The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1064 - Jim Harbaugh Hired By The LA Chargers, Dave Canales Hired By The Carolina Panthers, Adam Schefter, Michael Lombardi, Paul Heyman, Coach Chuck Pagano LIVE In The ThunderDome, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: January 25, 2024

On today’s show, Pat, Chuck Pagano, AJ Hawk, and the boys react to the news that the LA Chargers have officially hired Jim Harbaugh to be their new Head Coach and how it seems like a home run destined to succeed by all accounts. They also discuss Buccaneers OC Dave Canales officially being hired by the Carolina Panthers to be their new Head Coach reuniting him with Dan Morgan from their days in Seattle together. Coach Pagano also previews both of the Championship games this upcoming weekend and gives his picks. Joining the progrum to chat about both the Harbaugh hiring and the Dave Canales hiring in Carolina and what might be coming next (21:40-31:22). Next, 3x Super Bowl Champion, former GM of the Cleveland Browns, host of the Lombardi Line and GM Shuffle podcast, Michael Lombardi joins the show to chat about all the different hirings going on right now, Belichick and Vrabel potentially being on the outside looking in, and who he likes this weekend in the Conference Championship games (31:22-53:56). Later, The Wiseman, Council to the Tribal Chief, WWE Legend, Paul Heyman joins the show to preview this weekend’s Royal Rumble, and what makes Roman Reigns the greatest WWE Superstar of all-time (1:32:10-1:51:58). Make sure you subscribe to YouTube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. Or watch on ESPN (12-2 EDT), ESPN’s Youtube (12-3 EDT), or ESPN+. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. See you tomorrow, cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode the Thunderdome on this big coach Thursday January 25th 2024 this sports program starts now. Football is headline heavy right now we got defensive coordinators moved from Miami to Philadelphia but the one story that everybody on earth is talking about is that the reigning defending current national champion of the college football world jim harbaugh is now the head coach of the los angeles chargers announced yesterday at 6 43 eastern time uh by this man who is a michigan man's twitter account adam schefter will be joining us in about nine minutes to break down how we inevitably got here. Because if you do recall, December 4th, I believe, Schefter came on our show whenever we were in New York. And this is how he described the Harbaugh-Michigan situation to us.

Has Harbaugh's camp or team thought about that or they just focused on college football playoff? Well, I would say that to me, he's always wanted to go bring a national championship to Michigan. And I think if he brings a national championship to Michigan, I would think there would be a part of him that feels like he set out to do what he intended all along. And I think that that would give him even more liberty to take the jump to the NFL. So literally since December 4th, Adam Schefter has kind of been saying that all Harbaugh wanted to do whenever he got back to Michigan was restore some greatness to Michigan.

I think it was a narrative that was heard loud and clear by a lot of Michigan alums because whenever Jim Harbaugh leaves the national champion Michigan team to go to the Chargers, all we saw yesterday was Michigan alums saying, thank you, Michigan man, Jim Harbaugh, for doing what you did to our beloved school. Beat Ohio State three straight times. Won three straight college football playoffs. Won a national championship. Now we're back in the conversation.

And allegedly, handing off the baton to Jerome Moore, who hasn't been hired yet because state law. Of course. That's state law. Rest in peace, Donnie Baker. But there's at least a week has to take place before the highest paid i'd assume state employee is hired with anything else like that so sharon moore is a guy that jim harbaugh found gave an opportunity to and is now handing off the ranks to to keep michigan at this high level while harbaugh now heads to los angeles

chargers a place that he played for a place that he played for, a place that he's won for, a place that he's close to the owners. And I think he's coached ownership's kids maybe whenever they were at Stanford. Now, there was other teams that were certainly interested in Jim Harbaugh's services. Atlanta was scheduling another interview with him coming in there. He was the bell of the ball for this coaching cycle for good reason. All this human has ever done. Now, not a quarterback. I don't think he's ever won a Super Bowl.

He is in the Colts' ring of honor. I think he played like four games or something for the Indianapolis Colts. But all he has done as a head coach is win, establish an attitude and a culture of being physically tougher than other teams and not deal with any of the nonsense outside. That is exactly what the Chargers need right now. The amount of talent they have on that team, the quarterback that they have, we think this is going to be a beautiful relationship. And congrats to the Chargers need right now. The amount of talent they have on that team, the quarterback that they have, we think this is going to be a beautiful relationship.

And congrats to the Chargers getting this thing done. Now, Michigan obviously had massive success. At the Niners, he had massive success. At Stanford, he had massive success. I think even at San Diego State, where he started, he had massive success. This guy knows how to coach ball. Now, we think he's incredibly hilarious.

I love that he is not normal. I like that he is quirky, even though that has been a weapon of his in his coaching style and winning over a locker room. And I think the NFL should be very pumped that he's back with us. I do know that a lot of the big people in the college football world, the Kirk Herbstreits, the Reese Davises, the Desmond Howards, they're all going to miss the hell out of Jim Harbaugh being in college football because the persona, the personality, the moxie, the culture that he brings is good for any league that he's in. So we're all pumped that he's back in the NFL. There are certainly some people bummed, but if you're a Chargers fan, let's go. We're back in this thing with a legitimate horse. The talk table is here at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. We had

a chance to talk to Brandon Staley in person shortly after he was hired. And I think we all left that conversation going, I've never met an NFL coach like that before. Good guy. He said his coaching tree wasn't McVay. It was his mom and dad. Bruce and Linda. Bruce and Linda are coaches in Ohio.

Now COVID takes place. I think he was a very interpersonal type coach, wants to win them over, talk to them, meet their family. Couldn't do that for two years because of the situation that was happening around the globe. It did take place. Please don't cancel me for even mentioning that entire thing. And inevitably, it just never really worked out. The Brandon never really worked out. Now, they got some real stability, a championship mindset, and the Spanos has had to pay. And they're not normally known for the people that are going to go up

and above and beyond to pay people. You know, their bank account is not normally questioned by everybody. They somehow wrangle in the big fish. One after the hammer, done. Cowboys 10 digs this year. Bill Belichick at the beginning was maybe going to go to the Chargers. How about Vrabel maybe going over to the Chargers? Pete Carroll wanted the job.

Jim Harbaugh gets the Chargers job. Congrats to everybody over there, we think, on this particular day. Yeah, I mean, they even interviewed David Shaw. There's a lot of names in the hat for them, and I'm pretty sure we all thought, you all thought, everyone. If Harbaugh wants that job he wants that job and I don't know if we have the clip or not but especially when Greeny told us that they were at a funeral and Greeny didn't care about the person I think do we have it yes please same day that

Schefter told us that Harbaugh and as you saw with Greeny he was on the first question whenever Schefter was there you could actually hear us dapping him up while Schefter was giving us an answer on his way out. So Harbaugh was a big topic of conversation this day. And here's how Greeny described what he thinks Harbaugh would want to do in the NFL because of a conversation he had at a funeral. You may know Jim Harbaugh better than I do, but I know him a little. He was the quarterback of the Bears when I covered them in the 90s. And I happened to run into Jim. We were at a funeral about a year and a half ago. Rest in peace. Rest in peace. Thank you very much. Thoughts and prayers.

And he was just a mutual friend of ours who died. And we got to talking. Now, I want to make it very clear. We were not talking about a coaching vacancy. We were not talking about him leaving Michigan. Nothing. We were just talking about how great the young quarterback play is in the National Football League. All these great young quarterbacks, Burrow, Mahomes, blah, blah, blah. He spent five minutes telling me that he thinks that Justin Herbert is the best of all of them. He loves Herbert. Take that for what you will. I do not think that Harbaugh will be back in Michigan next year. I'm not sure what the circumstances are that will cause his departure, but whether they beat Alabama or not,

whether they win the championship or not, I do not think he is going to be back at Michigan next year based on all that I think is coming down the road with the NCAA with them. Dan Graney hasn't been right about everything, but he's in two Hall of Fames for a reason. And I think a lot of people saw the writing on the wall

potentially for Harbaugh getting back into the NFL because a lot of money to be made as a head coach in the NFL. But him saying all he talked about was how good Herbert is, and you see the success he had with Andrew Luck, obviously, at Stanford, and how big and strong and seemingly similar personalities that Herbert has alongside Andrew Luck. I think he feels that they'll be able to mesh well, and he'll be able to get the most out of them. Joining us now is a man who coached football for 36 years, 18 in college, 18 in the NFL. The people's coach, our coach, Chuck Pagano. Now, Chuck, perfect day for you coming here. Why do you think Harbaugh chose the Chargers? Do you

think it is because of Herbert? And what do you expect from the Chargers now that Harbaugh's the head coach? Yeah, certainly the quarterback always has a lot to do with that. His relationship, going back to his playing days for the Chargers, his relationship with the Spanos family. You talked about the Spanos kid walking on at Stanford, him coaching him. It just lined up, right? I mean, they had this guy circled long before this ever happened. And I'm sure, you know, Harv's flirted around with Minnesota last year

or two years ago, Denver a year ago. So I think this was inevitable. He won the national championship. It was like, okay, I checked the box. I did what I set out to do at Michigan, got them back on track, won the national championship. So the guy enters, he's back in the NFL, and he's got like top five winning percentage.

No, he's highest. Number one active, yeah. He's the highest right now? Yeah. 44-19-1 at San Francisco. Built just a juggernaut there. He was doing with Kaepernick long before anybody, like everybody's doing now.

He was doing that way back in the day. I mean, we went out there. You remember we went out there in 2013 and played them. Ahmad Bradshaw. Set the tone right from the very first snap. Pitched it to him. And I forget the D-back, stud DB, came up. And it was like two Rams, you know, on one of those deals.

Yeah. And set the tone for the day. It was a heck of a win for us. Huge win. That stadium was absolute crap. Garbage. Oh, yeah. Trash. Candlestick. Cool to be there, though. That stadium was absolute crap, garbage, trash, candlestick. Cool to be there, though.

You're part of history, like actual ancient history. You're in the middle of it while playing. But I think that was my first time encountering hardball. When I was warming up on the field, he walked over, and I'm looking down at the ground. I don't know, trying to probably figure out how far I am. And I saw his cleats first. I saw his cleats walk up first. And, I saw him cleats walk up first.

And then I saw the khakis and then I look up and it's him. And he goes, Hey, Pat, just wanted to say hello or whatever. I'm like, coach Harbaugh. Very nice to meet you. He just walks away. We had a lot of Stanford guys on our team. So I had heard a lot about Harbaugh. I'm assuming there's a chance he potentially heard, but he was always incredibly kind to me. And he's always been incredibly friendly and his players love him. Like players have always loved him and i think that is a massive piece of this there's not a lot of people that have been able to successfully coach in college and in the nfl i mean i guess you're one of them yeah your name never gets really mentioned in that entire aspect and that's kind of i guess but there's not a lot of people that have been able to reach 18 year olds and

also been able to reach 37 year olds it's. It's not easy. There's a dynamic there in which you have to have respect and your resume has to be real and the way you communicate has to be a special way. Harbaugh has been able to prove that he can do that and now he's taking on a brand new challenge with a team who's second fiddle in their own city, in their own stadium, a team that for whatever reason, just at the very end, they have the Detroit Lions syndrome, at the very end of the game, they're going to blow it. We don't know how. We don't know why. They're going to blow it. And it's like, he's coming

in there now with the same mindset he had at Michigan. And I think we all agree he's going to win. Right? That's just how we all agree now? No, absolutely. They pulled off the biggest coup. You talked about the Spanos family not being real spendy, being a little bit tight with the money. Maybe they don't have the money, but they went out

and spent whatever they had to spend. I'm excited to hear what this number is. He'll win a championship there. Really? Super Bowl? Yeah, absolutely. Alright. Jimmy Johnson taught me a long time ago, like when I GA'd

for him in 1986 about players. He said, if they make plays in high school they're going to make them in college they make them in college they're going to make them in the national football league ed reed okay 100 interceptions at desterhan high school right in louisiana a million interceptions at the u and whatever the hell i wanted gazillion 60 set whatever it is in the national. So coaching is no doubt. He's won everywhere. You mentioned San Diego, right?

I think it's the Toros, the University of San Diego. Okay. Not San Diego. So the Toros. So there, Stanford, boom, boom. You just go on down the line. So this is just a matter of time. They've got some cap issues that they have to deal with on that roster.

So he'll go in there. They've got to hire a GM still, and there's a couple names out there that they've talked about, but he'll get a GM. They'll get a guy there, and you just know how that mindset... He's authentic, right? What you see is what you get, and he has never changed, Authentic, right? What you see is what you get. Always. And he has never changed, and he is unapologetically himself, and he's real. And he's been able to do it at the college level, coach those kids, coach kids in the national football.

We saw a lot of guys not be able to do that, right? A lot. Be able to communicate. I had a learning curve when I first came in the NFL from college. It's different. You're talking to grown-ass men. Yeah. You know, so you can't have a conversation maybe like you had with a college kid

especially in front of their peers with a national football NFL player, a grown-ass man as we call them. Absolutely. You'll get a funny look. We'll see whose bank account is bigger and also who matters more to this team you want to keep running your mouth that is how some players treat it and some coaches can never get past that can never understand the fact like oh we're in this together as opposed to you're working for me that is the different dynamic of the nfl and the college not saying that you can't command

accountability and respect and discipline and everything but it's a fine line it's not easy and harbaugh's been able to bounce i think it's been able to bounce. I think it's because he's a player. It's because he's been a player. So he's literally been in the meeting rooms before. He's played in the games. He knows what's feasible. He knows what's not feasible. And all the players in the locker room know that he's played. So whenever he's coming in there, he's already got a grain of

credibility with the boys. He's already got respect with the boys. And I think everybody's just excited to learn what all that I've seen is real. Like, I've seen this guy shirtless. We're hearing stories now from Aiden Hutchinson and it was tweeted by the 33rd team. I don't know who's doing the interview where he said one of his favorite stories is he walked

in a weight room in Michigan and Harbaugh was in cleats wearing khakis shirtless under the squat rack. It's like those types of stories are in abundance from everywhere he's ever been and everybody loves him. It's just like, yeah, that's Jim. So I think the Chargers players are obviously hopeful for the future,

but also excited to see, what is this son of a bitch? What is this? And they all know that what they're going to be screaming soon is, nobody for the whole who's got it better than us. But it's like, there's some mass. And we all talk about winning headlines, and we never know if this is actually a win or not in the future can you win today though can you win the hiring day and a lot of teams don't necessarily do that i think when the titans uh hire brian callahan like i think titans fans have gotten pretty quiet since they

fired variable and now everything's kind of gone anyways but titans have a good fan base I've got a chance to experience them we've got a chance to experience them down in Nashville not only for the games in in our division uh every single year but also in the draft I mean like I don't think Titans fans were like super loud and pumped no about Callahan becoming their head coach now they might be completely wrong Callahan might go in there and absolutely crush four months from now but But Chargers fans, especially the Chargers social media account, it is a victory lap day for this Los Angeles Chargers team. They haven't had a lot of those since they've gone to Los Angeles. No, and there's still Belichick, Rabel, Pete Carroll out there,

and it's still like, hey, it doesn't matter. Who cares about those guys? Harbaugh is the guy. I mean, could you imagine, are there two more polar opposite people, at least from the outside, with staley and harbaugh like it's almost as if just overnight this entire franchise just pivoted like okay we're not doing that stuff anymore we're doing the harbaugh shirtless underneath the rack and khakis like that that is who we are now which is awesome and you mentioned herbert like it feels like that is

the kind of guy herbert is shirt, quiet. Herbert's got great hair. He's handsome. He's quiet. He's got a rocket. So I think a lot of people automatically assume not like super football guy. Remember, I got a chance to meet his dad. Him, his brothers, and his dad were playing pickup football in their living room

whenever they were little kids. That's the reason why he can kick is because they put tape on the wall for field goals and extra points. They moved the furniture out of the living room as a kid so that they could play football in Oregon. Like, this dude is a football nut. And then one of his first plays, whenever he got dropped into the game after Tyrod Taylor had his lung punctured by a golf tee

just 15 minutes before the game started, he's running down sideline and instead of going out of bounds he takes his six foot six 240 pound body and destroyed carted a guy yeah knocks him out carted a guy off the field his teammates were like okay so now you bring in a hardball mentality which is going to be you see it with the ras. You saw it with Michigan. You saw it with Stanford. I mean, remember Toby and Christian and Luck. It's just like a physical, physical football team. And you can kind of take out all the exterior stuff.

Now, they'll still use the weapons that they have. Harbaugh's not a dummy. He's a quarterback at heart. They see the highlights of him throwing. But they're going to take on this image of him, and it's a tough and it's like in the football world now those teams are winning there for a while who's the smartest who's the trickiest who's the most clever who has the most speed who can spread them out who can utilize the most sure that still all matters but who's the tough team now are the teams that are winning in the football world and it's like they're immediately potentially dropping

that culture into la with the. with the Chargers. Yeah, and this is exactly what a guy like Herbert needs, I think, too, because he's unbelievable, obviously, and kind of people go back and forth like, oh, is he a superstar? But in big moments, whether it was the case or not, it seemed like a guy like Brandon Staley is just timid and kind of unsure of himself. Like, that's not hardball at all.

Like, you just feel, and especially, like, him being a Big Ten guy, watching all those teams for all those years he was in the Big Ten, and then obviously him in the NFL, like, they win those close games because that's just, like you said, like, that's his mentality. That's that physical tough. Like, they just, it's almost like he doesn't allow teams to lose in those situations. And then you get a guy like Herbert who has all the talent in the world, but whether or not he was always held accountable

to the same degree that Harbaugh is definitely going to hold him accountable. This feels like a home run in every possible way. And the cap issues that Chuck brings up, that's just one swipe of a pen that you can change it. Now you're kicking it down the road, but a lot of teams have done that. That is the modern NFL. Breaking news out of Carolina. So Dan Morgan, former Miami legend and maniac linebacker dog on the field, who's a cerebral deep thinker and tough guy that Greg Olson described. Basically, a Dan Campbell type is what people are describing. Dan Morgan, who's been hired as the GM for the Carolina Panthers. He brings on David Canales of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

Now, we learned earlier today from Chuck Pagano's knowledge of who is with where how. Canales joined USC in 2009 with Pete Carroll. Then he left and went to Seattle. Dan Morgan was in Seattle. Canales was in Seattle. They kind of cut their teeth together, know each other very well. Obviously, with what Baker Mayfield was able to accomplish this year and the success that they had, put him on the radar for jobs.

Him and Morgan, good tag team over there. Feels like that's another place that's gonna have to change their culture and mindset going forward immediately Matt's made in heaven right so they spent probably seven years together in Seattle so obviously they know each other as soon as Dan got this job you saw this name come up you saw him go in for the interview second one so you kind of put two and two together saying, okay. Because we talk about it ad nauseum, about the head coach-GM relationship and being tight at the hip and being aligned, same thinking, philosophical, whatever it is.

Yeah, so this is a home run for Dan Morgan and the Panthers. No, they've got a lot of things to figure out down there. But Greg Olson said, who lives in Carolina, former Panther, he's in the city, would like his kids to cheer for a successful Panthers team. He said Dan Morgan is a guy that you would put faith in to turn around an entire program? Absolutely. How come?

How'd you know? I was at the University of Miami, recruited him, and I didn't recruit him. He came and played for us in 97. He was from Coral Springs, local kid, came in as a running back, white running back. They move him to linebacker. Next thing you know, he's like second team freshman All-American, sets a record for freshman tackles.

Like Ray had the record and then Dan Morgan has the record. He goes on to have an unbelievable one. Every award that you can win as a linebacker in college football, Bronco, this, that, all those awards, right? Unbelievable. I mean, like the quiet assassin, never said anything. Like he said, we're going to have thoughtful thinking. Like really smart dude, very precise, not going to be an overreactor.

He's going to think through everything, and he knows how to build a team. Yeah, but once he put the cowboy collar back on. Exactly. It kind of looked like, and I hope he hears this, because the way he is, I think he'll probably, you know, maybe find a little fire in this. I thought you just dressed like an accountant at your press conference. I've heard nothing about you being just an absolute dog.

I want a cowboy collar over my jeans. So it won't be, like you said, MC, he's got the same mindset. Now, he's not going to come across like that. He's not going to talk about biting off kneecaps and all that, but they're wired the same way. His toughness and the way he's going to build the team. Being at Miami, he didn't lose games. They didn't lose games for two years.

Should have won back-to-back national championships. So the guy's been a winner. He knows what it's supposed to look like, what it's supposed to smell like, what it's supposed to taste like. And right guy for Tepper, seemingly. Now, quick, Tom, go ahead. Yeah, but you mentioned the GM coach, perfect pair, great. But that's another first-time coach where Tepper can put his thumb on

on Mondays and meet with him. Are we not worried about that? Joining us now is a man who might have a little bit of information on that and certainly has more information on the Los Angeles Chargers hiring of Jim Harbaugh, Michigan man. The man who told us in December about how he felt that Harbaugh wanted to come back to Michigan, restore

greatness, and then is the mission accomplished? Maybe he goes back to the NFL. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Schefter. Schefter, thank you for joining us, pal. I ran the clip earlier of what you said and your thoughts on what Jim was potentially thinking when he went back to Michigan. He did that.

How clear was the picture that he was going to be a Charger? Because it felt like the entire world was putting him with the Chargers for the last few weeks. What was the holdup? Was there a holdup? Who inevitably had to make the decision to make it official yesterday at 643 via your Twitter account? Well, I think that essentially the Chargers were the team that was most interested in him all along.

They had done a ton of work on Jim Harbaugh, were determined to get a deal done with Jim Harbaugh. And the only question really that remained was that the interview with the Falcons was scheduled for Thursday. So was Jim going to get out of the building? Were the Chargers going to get the deal done? And was he going to go on to Atlanta, which I think had some attractive qualities to offer? And ultimately, in the end, the Chargers, I think, stepped up. And before he can get out of the building, before he can get out of LA, before he can get to Atlanta, they reach agreement on a five-year deal that keeps Jim in Los Angeles, prevents him from interviewing with the Falcons, who are interested in talking to Jim. And we'll never know how that would have worked out. But in the end, I think the Chargers were the team that really wanted him most

and it showed in the aggressiveness with which they pursued him. Do we normally learn what the number is you said five years there and i thought you were potentially going to drop the number what it is because spano's family owns an nfl team okay they're wealthy this is not a knock on the spano's family they certainly have more money than every human that's on this call right now combined okay that is certainly the case there are but they're not known to be the, you know, they'll sit on it because they don't want to spend more money.

That's kind of the MO about the Spans. They're in somebody else's stadium. You know, they're doing it like, so they had to really step up here. You think financially to get our bar, what do you think was the stepping up? Is it like you get more control over roster?

How do you think they did step up to kind of land the deal here for the bell of the ball, this coaching coaching cycle which was Jim Harbaugh well again I think it's not hard to figure out Michigan had an offer on the table to make Jim the highest paid coach in college football it was out there and he could have taken that at any point in time but the longer it's just sitting out there and the more he's not taking it the more you realize that's just not going to happen he's just not out there and the more he's not taking it, the more you realize that's just not going to happen. He's just not going to go back to school. His work there is done. It's time for him to go to the NFL. And it's really a whole slew of factors. As you mentioned, as we talked about,

he had restored the program. He had beaten Ohio State. He had gotten the team to a Final Four. He had won a national championship. He had done everything that he set out to do at that school. He had been there longer than he had been any other place, nine years. And the money at the NFL coaching level is rising to where whatever Michigan was going to offer, it couldn't match what the NFL was going to offer on two fronts. Number one, the NFL was going to be able to offer more money. Number two, the NFL could offer the chance to compete and try to win a Super Bowl, which Michigan couldn't. So those two factors alone made it such that Jim, I believe, was destined to leave Michigan at this time. This was the right time. I think he knew it. He did a

tremendous job focusing in on the task at hand and leading this team to a national championship and answering questions in a way that completely diffused the situation and didn a lot of other places when their coach leaves especially after winning a national championship we just got here he's the first coach in history to leave college after winning a national championship and go to the NFL so congrats to him for doing that mission accomplished as a Michigan man to restore their greatness last question about this before we have a question about Carolina then we'll let you go we appreciate you making time on this very active Thursday. The passing of the baton from Johnny Root, just like we said it was. And that's the Sharon Moore we're thinking. Ah, yeah, listen, to me.

Ah! Ah! Chef D! Chef D! Yeah, that's a natural. That's sort of easy to call. And to me, you know, Michigan may look at a few other candidates and it may talk to a few other candidates,

but who's better than Sharon Moore? Who's got it better than Sharon Moore? Nobody! Who's got the greatest winning percentage, not only in Michigan history, but college football history? Jerome Moore. 4-0. That's a good resume.

And also, he loves Michigan. I mean, you saw in that interview afterwards how much he loves the program. I assume Michigan people will be pumped. Last question here, and it's not about this. We appreciate you, though. Yeah, Shepty, we were just talking about right before you came on how Morgan and Canales seem like a perfect fit as coach and GM. Our worry has always been how is Tepper going to handle a first-time head coach

as the owner? Are they going to do meetings again every Monday like you did with Frank Reich? How do you think that relationship is going to be? You know, you're bringing up Tepper and Dave Canales and Dan Morgan. And to me, the biggest, most important relationship in that organization now, and it's not close, is the one between Dave Canales and Bryce Young. Because this team more gives its future on the quarterback that that organization believes in and has the chance to grow into a good player. that that organization believes in and has the chance to grow into a good player. They need somebody who's going to nurture him, allow him to grow,

and become the quarterback that they believed he was when they traded up and gave away all those picks to give up to get Bryce Young. And so that is the most important relationship in that organization now. You can take Tepper, you can take Morgan, you could take any of these guys, but it's about Dave Canales and Bryce Young and what they do together. And obviously the Panthers are very impressed with what he did this past year with Baker Mayfield. Dan Morgan knows him from his time in Seattle, knows the kind of attitude that he has.

I didn't know this until yesterday, but Dave Kanellis is an author, too. He wrote a book about his relationship with his wife that some people have read, too. That's kind of interesting. I've got to go read that. Some people have read. I love the way you describe that. I'm just letting you know that I have certainly not read this, but I learned of this yesterday. Kanellis, deep thinker, just like Dan Morgan, they're saying.

And I understand that Kanellis and Bryce Young's success will alter how all the conversations go about the carolina panthers but for those of us who have to talk about or get to talk about the nfl every single day the tepper relationship with everybody yeah is number one just the guy throwing ice on people the guy calling monday meetings the guy firing six soccer coaches six football coaches in like three years that's the combo you're you're thinking about him like that and let's not lose sight of the fact that he's one of the single richest men in the entire universe like okay he's had unbelievable success and it hasn't found its way to him in football just yet uh and we'll see if it does but the guy has had truly the touch on everything so far up until this so let's give him a little bit of time let's cut him a

little slack i agree and let's see how it goes going forward but the guy is more successful than everybody in this universe and let's see if he could uh carry it over to the football field not everybody the waltons came in and said yeah you can carry it over to the football field. Not everybody. The Waltons came in and said, yeah, you're not the richest in the NFL anymore. We are. But I certainly agree with what you're saying. And one of our favorite Tepper stories is the buying of the executive that didn't give him a promotion's house and then tearing it down and building a bigger one. We assume he's going to have success in the NFL, but watching it all take place here,

we're lucky to be in this era. Chuck has a quick question about the Harbaugh situation. That's a big deal. Hey, Chef, good to see you. I know you got to run. Hey, Harbaugh gets hired first. They still got to fill the GM role. Does this mean Harbaugh gets to pick the GM?

And if so, who do you think it is? Well, they just completed a second interview with Brandon Brown, the Giants assistant general manager. So clearly he's got serious consideration. And I also just think that Joe Ortiz, who has worked in the Baltimore front office for a long time, also obviously would be another finalist. He's there today talking to the Chargers as well. He would have the John Harbaugh blessing and stamp of approval and Joe Ortiz's batting last, which I think a lot of times is a big advantage in interviews like this.

Brandon Brown's wrapped up his second, is going to be a GM in this league. We don't know whether it's going to be now or with another team, but his turn is coming. But I like Joe Ortiz's position, having a relationship with John Harbaugh and batting last in L.A. right now. So Jim's going to be the one calling the shots out there, we can assume? Well, I'm sure he's going to work with the Spanos family to do it, but he's going to have a huge voice, of course. Okay, that's sweet.

I can't wait to see what he builds out there. Thank you so much for your time, ladies and gentlemen. Adam Schefter, thanks for having me. And now joining us, a man who has a plethora of knowledge on the matter ladies and gentlemen michael lombardi what's up guys are we doing busy day man wow awesome day awesome day this is a great day to chat with you too i mean been around the nfl for 100 years three super bowls you've been a gm a consultant an advisor a podcaster a live show host everything okay so you're the perfect human for us to talk about.

Let's talk about the Harbaugh hire. I think you were a part of actually Harbaugh's first ever coaching gig in the NFL, you told us last week. Now that he's officially the Chargers head coach, they haven't hired a GM yet, we just heard from Adam Schefter. He's going to get to be able to build this culture in his vision and in his likeness. You think this is an immediate win?

We all are assuming that, and I think that's just, is that no reaction or is that real? No, I think it's real. Look, the one thing, I think John mentioned this, his brother, and I think his brother nailed it. He's a great team builder. I think people think because Jim played quarterback in the NFL that he's a play caller.

He's an offensive coordinator coaching the quarterback. No, Jim's a strategist. Jim manages the entire game, and he a strategist. Jim manages the entire game and he builds a culture. And what the Chargers need was toughness, mental and physical toughness. And that's Jim's specialty, highly competitive, the ability to have competitive stamina every single day, get better. You know, who has it better than we do, right? You know, that's his mantra. And that will transcend itself all throughout the organization and he understands what he needs he develops coaches too i think that's the other part too

he's demanding on the players in a good way he's demanding on the coaches in a good way and i think those two things are exactly what the chargers need and when he finds the right personnel guy who is symbolic in terms of finding the talent that fits around him i think they're off to the races look that west now you know you got two hall of fame coaches and sean payton and andy reed you're competing against right so you better bring something to the table here yeah the afc west has become you know must watch over the last couple years especially because we're in the middle of a potential dynasty well definitely a dynasty,

but an extended dynasty taking place with the Chiefs. And the Chargers ownership knew that, right? That's like, I think, when the Patriots had their run, Bills ownership, Jets ownership, Miami ownership, just in the dumps every single year. Like, yeah, we've got to play them twice, actually. So they're beating the NFL. AFC West with Patrick Mahomes over there,

you've seen every team. The Waltons come in. They got the most amount of money. We need to figure out how not to be just in the Chiefs division. Raiders have been making a bunch of moves. Chuck's going to ask you a question about that here in a little bit. The Chargers doing the same thing. I think we all very much appreciate. Is Herbert, you know,

because we had Schefter on the show whenever we were in his studio in New York in December, and he said that he and Harbaugh were at a mutual friend's funeral, rest in peace to whoever that was. Never said the person's name. He said that whenever he talked to Harbaugh, they happen to be sitting next to each other. Harbaugh spoke for five minutes about how he thinks Herbert is the best young quarterback in the NFL. Now he gets an opportunity to work with him. With Harbaugh's physical style, I think, what is it going to do for Herbert's play? And what do you expect from Herbert going forward that maybe we hadn't seen in the past?

I think what you're going to see is the toughness that the team needs. Look, this whole notion that one player wins Super Bowls in the NFL is somewhat ridiculous. And people continue that narrative going forward. It takes a team. It takes a village to win a championship. These four teams in the Final Four all have teams that work together with culture, and they play off of one another. They have great quarterbacks, but they rely on other things. What we do know about the NFL is one great player that's not the NBA can't get you to the Super Bowl. We see that. Or else Warren Moon would

have 20 Super Bowls. Dan Marino would have 15. Brett Favre would have 30. Aaron Rodgers would have 20. I mean, it's ridiculous. But what's going to happen here is they're going to have a team around Herbert. And Herbert's leadership is going to be blended within the Harbaugh philosophy. They're not going to put the game on his shoulders. They're going to put the game on the team's shoulders. And Herbert's going to shine because he's really talented. And he's going to show everybody how talented he is and all that stupid stuff about well he can't come from behind and he can't do this is going to go out the window because they're going to have a team that's going to play well in

all three phases that's critical see team building is what matters today and Harbaugh's going to build a team around a great quarterback which is going to make a great quarterback even better man culture matters so much, and it gets talked about whenever it gets talked about. But what culture is, is you have a connected group. And whenever you heard Jim Harbaugh talk, and I had a chance to interview him, and he talked about

the team, his team, and Washington's team, he was like, a team looks connected. That is all he cares about, is he wants his team together. Never heard a player that has played for Jim Harbaugh said a negative thing about him publicly. Everybody loves, they have hilarious stories. Just ridiculous stories. I do too.

But everybody loves him and I think it's going to continue over there in LA and congrats on all the success seemingly on this particular day to the Chargers and to their fans. Now let's stay in that division. Chuck has a question for you. Hey Lombos, let's pivot over to Raiders. Tommy Telesco gets hired as the general manager.

How do you see – you know, we all thought Champ Kelly was doing a nice job as the interim GM. Why not Champ? How do you see that relationship between Tom and AP working out? Well, I think it'll work. Tom's one of those guys that can make it work. You know, I think he's going to be pliable to what he needs to do to help Antonio Pierce. I think what Mark Davis decided was, you know, I can't be too young.

I can't be too old and I can't be too young. And he wanted somebody with experience. I mean, Antonio Pierce is a young coach. And as a young head coach, as you know, Chuck, there's a lot of hurdles you're going to have to overcome. Now, he's got Marvin Lewis on the staff to help him. And he's got Tom Coughlin in his ear. But this is a huge challenge all of a sudden. Now it's your team, and you're going to have to build this thing from scratch.

And I think the experience is why Telesco got the job. And it's interesting because Telesco is a small school guy. He likes to draft small school players. He's now in a building where Al Davis was not interested in small school players. He wanted guys from big schools, size and speed. And so there's going to be a little bit of an adaptation that goes on within that place. But I think Telesco will help Antonio become the kind of coach he has to become because he's going to have some experience and be able to handle the storms that are about to embark on their team. Wow. What an absurd situation that Tom Telesco goes from Chargers to Raiders in the division,

African-fired midseason, and now he's going to be tasked with building another great team in the image of the Raiders. The autumn wind. Him and Antonio Pierce seem to be very similar. Oh, yeah. Same, same. Two peas in a pod. I hope it works out fantastic.

Connor, we love Tom. Love Tom. Tom's the only reason why I'm in the NFL, so I appreciate the hell out of him. Did not expect him to get this job. Did you? I didn't expect him. No, I didn't either. I didn't either.

I think, to me, he was the was that gave them the ability to keep keep champ kelly and and not have to change i think that was more important to mark david i think mark really likes champ kelly wants to keep him in the building i think there was the organization wanted to keep him and i think the other people that came through the organization wanted to build their own front office and i think tom is pretty much the kind of guy that can work around some of the areas where the owner wanted to work around, and good for him to get the job. You know, it's interesting.

He left Las Vegas getting beat 63 or whatever, and he comes back as the GM. Not a bad improvement, right? Not bad at all. Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Alamo, two of the guys we thought were going to be hired and at least have a lot of interest for Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick.

Now the Falcons have had 14 head coaching interviews, so maybe that is still very much on the table, and they have another second interview, in-person interview rather, today. Now that there's only three jobs left and it doesn't seem as though Belichick has any interest from Seattle

and then the commies already came out and said, hey, we're not hiring Bill Belichick. Well, that makes sense. They've got a track record of success there. That would make sense. New ownership. Of course I would say that. I would say that too.

Yeah, sure. It doesn't really make much sense. What is going on there? It feels like it is becoming very real that Belichick is not going to coach next season, at least as a head coach, unless Atlanta hires him. What do you think happens there? Do you think he takes that year off and then comes back next year when some of the other jobs that were up in the air might be open? And what do you think happens with Mike Vrabel too, now that there's only these three spots left? Well, I can't speak for Mike or Bill in terms of what they will do,

but what I can tell you is what's going on in the league and it last year it's the same situation I mean Sean Payton does not get the Denver job if D'Amico Ryans takes it right I mean that was the only job he was up for and he couldn't get and D'Amico took Houston over Denver and that opened up the door for Sean to get back in there look there is it's pretty obvious that these teams today, they talk about winning, they talk about all the things they want to do, but they don't really want to give somebody the authority they need to build a culture. They like their culture. They don't want to change. And so when you have the greatest coach of all time out there, and you're in Carolina, and you don't even interview him, what does that really say about your franchise? And look,

Dave Canales could be the best coach ever. I'm disputing that but to me when you have a guy who's got six superbowl trophies been to nine was the elite defensive coordinator in the league and you're not bringing him in or mike bravo what he's done to me it's it just says that we like our process we like everybody in a collaborative mode more than we want to just hand the keys to the store to somebody. And I think to me, it doesn't really send a signal that you're really trying to win. I mean, are you really trying to get the best coach for your program? And look, I think it's fairly obvious to me, if I were a GM in the league and I had a chance to interview Vrabel, I had a chance to interview Belichick, that's what I would do, because those guys could do it. But really, who's judging them? Like, evaluate the evaluators here now. Let's evaluate the evaluators for a second. You bring in Belichick, is really Terry Fontenot

interviewing Belichick? I mean, I'd like to watch that. You know, is Dan Morgan interviewing Belichick about football, about understanding the complexities of how to build it? I mean, come on, seriously. What you're saying is that's not for you. And that's fine. They own the teams. But if you're talking about really trying to win and you're not even going down that road, to me, are you really? Yeah, it's interesting. And obviously, you're tight with Bill Belichick and have had a lot of success and respect, as we all do, about Bill Belichick all but it's the same for rabel though like forget my i don't have a relationship with mike i like mike i know mike we say hello i've never worked with mike but like for me same thing with pete carroll i mean pete

carroll's a proven winner yeah he's 72 and allegedly he was lobbying for the los angeles chargers job he was whenever you talk about like what was said about Lamar, too, whenever he was potentially available, and teams were coming out of their way to come out and say, we're not interested, we're not interested. A lot of us were like, why would you even say that publicly? And there's 14 interviews. I think the Colts did 23 interviews for head coaching jobs. And it's like Bill Belichick not getting interviewed is a fascinating thing because

we thought he would just pick where he wanted to go and now this team's falling off. Look at Doc Rivers. Doc Rivers got a job and you know he picks the Milwaukee Bucks. I mean it's different in the NBA. In the NFL it's a little bit different you know and so you you got to understand the rules of engagement here right. You got to understand that and it's fine teams can go ahead but don't talk about winning. Don't talk about yeah we're going to understand the rules of engagement here, right? You've got to understand that. And it's fine. Teams can go ahead. But don't talk about winning. Don't talk about, yeah, we're going to hire the best guy. What we're talking about is protecting our desk.

That's the great George Young's line from 1980. You know, people want to protect their desk in the league. They don't want change. Yeah, well, change brings a lot of things. A lot of energy has to be taken to make the change smooth. There's a full transition of power that has to take place, a new way of doing things, maybe a potential new building that you have to add on to.

There's a lot that you have to commit to, potentially, with all change, let alone a Bill Belichick coming in who's potentially been, you know, the whole thing. Wild times, we still don't know how it's going to shape up, but excited to watch it unfold. Speaking of wild times, Philadelphia's in the middle of an interesting one go ahead ty yeah lambo you're obviously close to the situation i don't know if you heard the press conference from i think yeah yeah where you know they basically i think we actually have the clip if you can run that

the offensive coordinator is going to be in charge of the offense and the defensive coordinator is going to be in charge of the defense what is defensive coordinators can be in charge of the defense. What is your role going to be? The head coach. So, Lambeau, is it really as simple as like in Sirianni right now, obviously we talked all season about them having two new coordinators and how big of a difference that is. They bring in

Vic Fangio, haven't got an offensive guy yet. Like, is he, so he's going to, you know, we talk about team building. Like, what the hell is going on in Philly? What are the expectations for Sirianni? Is it almost setting up where if they don't have a good year again this year, then maybe Fangio gets a crack at being the

head coach? What the hell is going on in Philly? Two years removed from the Super Bowl, and it kind of feels like everything is crumbling down. I think what Sirianni said, I want to be the head coach. Well, the head coach, if you're not going to call offense or defensive play, you've got to be the strategist.

You've got to be able to say, okay, here's how we want to play the game this weekend. Here's what I want offensively, philosophically. Here's what I want philosophically, defensively, and in the kicking game. And this is how I want the team to work, operate, and I'm going to make sure during the season we're doing all those things. And that's not just going to team meetings, which he said later. Maybe I'll go to a defensive meeting. Maybe I'll go to a special teams. No, that's about being the CEO of the football program, which involves coaching the coaches, right? Now, I don't think he's going to walk into Vic's room

and tell Vic what he wants to do defensively, but he's going to have to have a relationship with Vic to say, hey, look, this week, I think we need to do this to take away what they do. Or we need to run the offense this week, this way to take advantage of their weaknesses and strength. That to me is a strategist. And when you remove yourself from a tactician, which is calling plays to a strategist, you've got to see the whole entire game as a head coach. Now, will that happen in Philly? I don't know. I mean, it's going to be fascinating to see because he's going to have to instill his leadership and the players are going to have to feel that he's impacting all three areas or else his voice is going to become less and less. It's a challenge, right? He worked with the offense last year. He didn't call the plays, but he was instrumental in the game planning.

So now he's going to remove himself from that role and then he's going to have to fill in a role as the head coach. So it's going to be to fill in a role as the head coach so it's going to be really interesting to see how it all plays out because a lot of the coaches that are being hired today are hired because of their tactics right i mean that dave canalis got the job in carolina because i'm sure they sat there and said look canalis did something to baker mayfield that we couldn't do he got him to play really well and his relationship with dan morgan going back to their time together in seattle but when they hire canal, he's going to be a tactician. He's not going to be the strategist. And I think there lies the difference in what we're talking about.

Well, I think you had a tweet about that earlier today, whenever Skip Bayless said something about Tom Brady ran the offense. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And you were talking about that was Bill Belichick's thing, right? He was strategist, obviously, but not only strategist, culture. And Nick Sirianni would go on to talk about, I'm the one that's instilling the culture, making sure the culture's around. I'm the one who's talking offense, defense, special teams. And you basically told Skip Bayless, like, you have no clue what happened in that building. Which, this has been happening to Skip a lot as of late.

Feels like it is dunk on Skip Bayless season more than it is ever been. I'm not dumping on him. I gave him, Pat, I gave him the Sopran him the sopranos tony soprano line with all due respect he had no he has no idea what's going on in that building like i gave him the respect he's earned for what he's doing with fox and what he's done but he has no understanding of it you know he doesn't understand he's never been in a room you have you know you know what that chuck has it it's a lot to go to it to basically say that statement is really not you you have no idea and i spent with just all due respect to him i mean let's just do you have no idea so whatever you say after that who falls along the you have no idea but you

can say people say anything today they say whatever the hell they want none of it's true buddy even if something is proved to be the exact opposite, they will still run with whatever they said the first time. If they said it publicly, it's a pretty big societal issue that has to come to a head at some point, we would assume. But football is certainly subjective in everybody's eyes except for whenever there's a matter of facts in front of them. But Sirianni taking that question, wild.

He was in the Super Bowl two years ago. And then it's like these Eagles reporters are getting a sense of how Philadelphia feels. They're like, what exactly do you do here? Yeah, we see you talk shit after games. We see you have Big Dom next to you. What do you – they basically think Coach Sirianni, seemingly some of the Eagles fans think. Yeah, you guys think I'm a Big dumb dipshit. I mean, the guy's

lucky I didn't hop over a podium, go down there and smack goddamn teeth on himself. That's why I wanted to. I digress. We love Sirianni around here. We literally do. But if you're not winning nowadays, anywhere, your ass could get got. And these reporters, shout out to them, they're

taking like tweets that are coming from 12-year-olds or 13-year-olds. Of course. They're picking up questions now in press conferences with badges. The questions that are being sent now are more aggressive than they have ever been in the past, I think personally, which I appreciate. Me too. Me too. Evaluate the evaluator.

It takes expertise to ask the right questions, right? So evaluate the evaluator. Look, I think to me what what you see like what we see with kansas city right that's what a head coach does andy reed after christmas day decided look this offensive line's not playing well we can't keep doing what we're doing and he strategized a way to change what they're doing now their offensive line has played way better since that game incredibly Incredibly better. They dominated a Buffalo team up front. They had the ball for 22 minutes, outgained them.

They dominated that game. It was unbelievable. 37 minutes, the Bills had the ball. They pushed around the Bills' defensive line, which would make you concerned if you're a Bills fan, right? It didn't come down to that. But the key point I want to make here is Reed deciding how to play the game differently than he did earlier in the year. And he got Mahomes to buy into it. That's what great

head coaches do. That's what you see when you can see the future just a little bit and you change the course of your team. That was really good. Now, to me, can Seriani do that? Well, this year, we didn't see him do that because his team was falling slowly and slowly, wasn't in shape or in condition, and he didn't change it. So he's going to have to change that role. Two new coordinators. First time he's had to deal with that happening. I assume he's going to learn from it and move on. We think Sirianni's a good coach.

Now, he can prove to be otherwise, I guess, as we go forward, but we are firmly in that Paisano's camp. Speaking of Paisano, Tone has a question for you, Mike. Yeah, Lombo, let's go to the field this weekend. Two incredible matchups. I feel like when you look at Detroit and San Francisco, they're looking in the mirror at each other with starting up front,

starting in the run game, playing off the play action. Defenses could be susceptible in the secondary, and then you go to the AFC Championship. Mahomes, 9-1-1 is a dog. He's a dog this weekend. On the road against the number one seed, Ravens. What are your thoughts on this weekend's games and how do you see them going?

Well, I mean, look, I think the Lions have been what Dan Campbell's personality has been. They have not played, I would say, great defense over the last five weeks. Nick Mullins threw for 4-11. They gained 4-11. I think he had 3-96 in the second game.

Dak had 345. And the two playoff games, Stafford and Mayfield, threw for over 300 yards, 367 and 349. But what they've been able to do is they make plays in critical times of the game. They get negative plays and they get sacks, and they kind of find a way when things are going bad to fix it. It's going to be a real challenge here for them to slow down this 49er attack. I don't anticipate the 49ers struggling to move the football like they did a little bit against Green Bay or Purdy not playing well.

Now, I know the depot factor's there, but this to me is going to come down to two things. Can the 49ers defensive front take over the game? They couldn't against Green Bay. Green Bay moved the ball for the first six drives. They had a great quarterback rating in Jordan Love, and then they adjusted the game out and got it. I think this is a game where both teams are going to score, and the 49ers will take advantage later in the game because it's going to be hard for this Lions defense, which

is weak in the back end, to kind of find a way to stop this 49er attack. In the other game, I think you have to throw out all the numbers. Like everybody keeps saying, well, Pat Mahomes against Baltimore. And the defense, this is a different Baltimore team than it's been, right? They are way different. And they're very good at pressuring the passer. And I think they're going to have to put some heat on it, and they've got to stop Pacheco.

I think when they look at the tape, when Reid looks at the tape, he's going to watch that Ram tape and see that the Rams ran the football on Baltimore. If they can run the ball on Baltimore, that's going to be key. And if Baltimore can run the ball on Kansas City, which every team has done, and if you look at the metrics, whether it's EPA or any of the analytics, people have run the ball on the Chiefs. All right. So it sounds like you are Ravens-Diners. I kind of – I know that sounds chalky. I think I would – the line moved to 7.5 today. The line moved to 7.5 today for the Lions.

I think that might be the right play. I think the Lions – one thing the Lions – they're not going home. They're going to compete their tail off. And how do you go against – I mean, if you're going to get so many points with Mahomes, I think it's a field goal game. I really do. But I think these two teams, Baltimore and San Francisco are the two best teams. Now, San Francisco defensively, everybody talks about Purdy. This poor kid plays good and everybody keeps crapping on him. I don't understand what he ever did to everybody. What did he do to everybody? It wasn't his fault he was the

seventh pick. I mean, like, I don't understand what this poor kid has done to everybody. It gets him so mad. But I don't expect him to play poorly. But what has to happen is what's gone unnoticed is that 49er front, they've got a lot of money in it. They've got Bosa making a ton of money. They've got Hargrave. They've got Armstead.

Chase, Chase, Chase, they've got all those guys making Chase Young, right? They've got to play. They're going to have to bring it. And this is a good line for Detroit. They're going to have to play better than they did last week. You bring it every time. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, the host of the Lombardi Line and GM Shuffle Podcast, Michael Lombardi. Let's go to that other game in Baltimore. Obviously, you were a defense

coordinator over there in Baltimore. Something that we've chatted about is home field advantage being real. Baltimore is a real home field advantage over there with the way that team plays as well, Chuck. Absolutely. You saw what happened to Houston a week ago. All the pre-snap penalties, the false starts, the neutral zone,

all that stuff. So, yeah, M&T will be rocking. I just read, I saw on X that Ed and Ray are going to be there as legends of the game. T-Pain's performing at halftime. Jonathan Ogden as the honorary captain. T-who? T-Pain.

Is he going to bring the pain? No, no, no. He's not like Dan Morgan. I don't know if I know T-Pain. You know T-Pain. Come on, Chuck. Yeah. All I do is wait.

It'll be electric. It'll be electric. It'll be unbelievable environment. So the thing about T-Pain is he figured out how to auto-tune his voice to sound awesome. Always. Musically, a genius, I think, is the documentary that I wrote, pretty much, for him to find how to get his voice to sound like this. And he just took over. And then there was a war against him. The two biggest stars on Earth basically said, death of autoune and autotune's ruined a business and i believe

ursha baby uh after his performance halftime actually told him that he killed music and ruined music like ai now it's auto-tune it's just like everybody can sing pretty much it just makes your voice sound good so he has an entire run where he just makes hundreds of millions we assume then he starts a twitch account has this whole new life, pretty much. Hilarious human being. And then he sings without the audience. He's a better singer than everybody else. Magnificent voice.

He's a weapon. T-Pain is an absolute weapon. What's his song? Chuck, I heard you in the shower today. You were listening to I'm in Love with a Stripper. Yeah. Oh, that's him? Yeah.

I can take you to a mansion somewhere in Wisconsin. That's him as well? That was him and JT. Wisconsin? Yeah, well, you got to make it. That's music. They say he deserves an award for rhyming that together. Yeah, that's actually one of the greatest bars in the history of music they say.

He didn't do It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp, did he? No, I think that was way before Teddy Payne became a musical. You know, it's hard out here for a pimp. Okay. I don't know how to play that. Three, six. With the Cadillac and gas money spent, you have a whole lot of bitches jumping ships.

There it is, Chuck. Thank you, Chuck. I don't know if T-Pain's going to be playing that this weekend, but M&T Bank's going to be going crazy. I think Jimmy's doing one of those tail goats, too. Yep. Don't go. Don't go.

Please don't go don't go please don't go see any of the videos from these things yeah they look great they look so i thought i saw shaq's gonna be there yeah dj diesel yeah yeah so i mean baltimore's gonna be upside down one of the past djs put out one of the best videos you've ever dj paul d check out his video from the tail guy him voicing over the whole video is certainly entertaining um the weather was bad though what do you expect for d Pauly D? His hair was good, though. It was.

The rain didn't affect it. But Baltimore's going to be alive. And with the way they play, they can really get out of control. Oh, yeah. But Patrick Mahomes would love to go in there. Hey! He's alive and kicking. The talk show table is here at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt. One out for the Hammer. Dime. Cowboys turn digs this year. Football! We appreciate that, Chuck. A man of fine taste, of course, is what you are. What is Cactus Pete's right there that you're wearing on your...

That's a little casino down in Jackpot, Nevada. Okay. Short ride. Shout out to Michael and Jesus in the boardroom. What do they get? What do you get? A free room out of this thing? Believe me, it wasn't just...

Not just a free room. No, we've given enough to where... Okay, all right. All right, good. Cactus Feet sounds like a blast, though. He was talking about it off-air a little bit. You guys would thrive there. He's like, two-hour ride for me and Tina.

They got everything you need there. Look at this place. Lights don't even work. They got a steakhouse in there called Steak 36. What? Chuck, you're the best. You are the absolute best you're a beauty pal you know that a beauty i couldn't even imagine the hills that this is in

oh you found the photo of it that is awesome yeah great work back there zito and it's awesome i think with the price some people would pay for that particular real estate on your chest i think you own cactus pizza yeah you potentially own. You potentially own Cactus Pete's. I'm happy to hear that your losses haven't gone to the lights. Hey, old school Cactus Pete's. That's right. Old school. Joining us now in an attic in Ohio is a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion,

a Ryder Cup winner, and a man who I think we all have respect for because he's the president of Ohio. Amen. He's 40 years old, A.J. Hawke. Yeah, A.J. Hawke. Hawke, you your old ass.

Congratulations to you, Ohio State Buckeyes. The big bad wolf in Ann Arbor, Jim Harbaugh, officially out at Michigan, now head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. Is there a parade in the streets of Columbus that the Buckeye killer has finally left college ball? Well, I mean, do you feel like that would be the sentiment of people? I feel like people don't want him to leave because they want another crack at him.

They want a chance to try to beat him now that he has had some success against the Buckeyes. I guess that's how I would look at it. That's such a good Ohio way to look at something. Oh, you think we're celebrating he's leaving? No, we wanted to be the one to send him out in an ambulance. I love everything about that. I didn't say that. I didn't say anything about an ambulance. Well, not you,

but your constituents in Ohio are certainly thinking that. It's going to that. I didn't say anything about an ambulance. Well, not you, but your constituents in Ohio are certainly thinking that. And it's going to be hard to get Harbaugh on an ambulance, I'm going to tell you. The amount of milk he drinks, too. The calcium rolling through his bones. But the stories that have rolled out from his players are nothing about respect. And obviously, he is a hilarious individual. We've talked basically for 45 minutes of the first 57 minutes about how big of a home run hire this seems to be for the Los Angeles Chargers, who was the bell of the ball this coaching cycle.

Seemingly, everybody wanted Harbaugh to be the next head coach of their team at the age of 60, fresh off a national championship. Do you agree with our sentiment? And is there any other thing that we haven't really brought up you think that hasn't been chatted about that you haven't seen? No, I mean, I think it absolutely makes sense. I know Chuck even said it. Like, everything kind of lines up for this to be a great spot for Jim Harbaugh to go. Now, we know he's always been, I don't know, intrigued by the NFL, and he had a lot of success as an NFL coach the short period of time he was there in the league.

So, yeah, I guess he was just waiting for the right place, right time, and all of a sudden you go undefeated and win the national championship. There's no better time to go and try to take a take another gig and win a super bowl now as a head coach that's the only thing really left he has to check off the list only coach in the history of college ball to win the national championship and then go to the nfl and i would argue that that's a reason why he is the guy he is you know his dad came out and gave a speech about you know people call him my son quirky and he said well guy he is. You know, and his dad came out and gave a speech about, you know, people calling my son quirky. And he said,

well, if quirky is having your entire team buy in and play tough and play good football everywhere you've ever been, then I hope that I'm described as quirky as well. Quirky could be described as a decision, whatever. You have all the leverage in the world at a university, even with a potential NCAA ruling coming down

where you win them a national championship first time in forever, you get them back to greatness and get them back to prominence. There's a lot of people that want you everywhere. The amount of leverage that normal college football coaches would utilize there to get the biggest deal in the history of the world, to be able to just sit there, continue to do what they did in Michigan is something I think almost everybody, well, history tells us everybody has done in the past. And instead he's like, nah, that was awesome. Michigan's back, throw more. You're the guy for it anyways. All right, yeah, sweet.

Good luck. I hope you do great. I'm pulling for you. Anything you need. Anything you need from me, here you go, Michigan man. And he's like, I want to go climb another hill now. At the age of 60, he got up to the top. He built a program

that's at the top. The amount of work it takes to climb up to the top. The amount of bullshit that you have to go through to get all the way up to the top. The recruiting, the scandals, the drama, the motivating, the workouts, the practices, the strategy, the scheming, the traveling, the game,

everything that he had to do to get to the top there. At the age of 60, he could have just been like, we're going to continue this. We're going to run this. This is my life's work. This is what I'm supposed to do. But instead, to be like, no, I'm going to go right down to the bottom of another mountain and be like, here we go. A lot more things out of his control with the salary cap and everything like that that he had control of in college. Obviously, he had a lot of success whenever he was the Niners head coach. He's the winningest coach in the NFL currently as soon as he gets back in there by percentage-wise.

But him choosing to get back down at the bottom and build up another thing, I think that says a lot about his character as well. It's not really being talked about. Yeah, absolutely. And you just think about what Saban said a month or two ago about the whole NIL situation and how, hey, the guys in the NFL have it great as well, and college has changed so much, and he had to work through that.

When he first went to Michigan, NIL wasn't a thing. He had to adjust to all those things on top of it. Win during it. Yeah, win during it, win before it, because obviously it's Michigan. And then the fact that they were able to go all the way helps a lot, and it does feel like that this is by far the higher of the offseason and that's crazy to say with bill bill bill belichick still being out there yeah and mike vrabel hembo sent me some stats about the 49ers team whenever harbaugh was leading them like that um here we go identity of

jim harbaugh's nfl team which is using numbers from 2011 through 14 with 49ers. Win line of scrimmage in the run game. They outrushed their opponent by 3,022 yards during those years. Sorry, what? Largest margin in the NFL. 3,022-yard advantage over all their opponents whenever they were, when Harbaugh was with the 49ers. Remember Kaepernick?

That was before everybody. So he's wide away giveaway takeaway premium 66 giveaways which were tied for the fewest in the nfl and 122 takeaways which was tied for fourth most in the entire nfl door nose thing so he has just like these old school traits i assume the margin was plus 56 there you do the math which is the second best in the NFL in the history behind only New England. That's the greatest dynasty in the history of the sport. He puts big plays as a premium. His offense created the fourth

most explosive plays in the entire NFL whenever he was there, allowed the fourth fewest explosive plays on the defensive side, which is obviously the second best margin, only behind Seattle at the time, which Seattle was in the middle of Legion of Boom. They play heavy on offense. They lived in 21 and 22

personnel on 42% of their plays, which is the highest percentage in the NFL. 11 personnel was on 25% of the plays, which is the fewest in the NFL. They live under center, and they have a perimeter run game is what they basically went through. So everything that's like old-school football is seemingly what Harbaugh is.

And we had Kalen DeBoer on yesterday, and he talked about coaching at Sioux Falls and Washington, now at Alabama. He's like, football is football. Football is football. It feels like Harbaugh views it the same way, and the Harbaugh family views it the same way, Chuck. He's had a formula for winning wherever he's been. In that formula, you remember we kind of had a similar formula.

I learned it from John at the Ravens. It starts with the quarterback, right? Protect your effect there, right? The ball. Is the program. Right? So keep it, take it away. Bingo.

Run the ball, stop the run. He's going to build the thing from inside out, right? He's going to start in the trenches. Fundamentals and technique, right? Put a premium on those. Situ situational football those stats just show you so he's going to get there he's going to figure out okay roster what do we have what do we need what do i got to do to change he's always been tight end centric the big guys to your point hembo stat about 21 and 22 personnel so it'll be interesting to see because the the right now, you don't play but like base defense. We're base 3-4.

You don't play but maybe 22% to 24% of base because everybody's in three wides now, 11 personnel, one back, one tight end. So you're in sub most of the time. So if you play 1,000 plays, you're going to play 750 plays in nickel defense because everybody else is in 11. So it'll be interesting to see what he does with that outfit. Now, with that being said, with the modern NFL, that's why the Ravens have had success because they're heavy. That's why the Niners have had success still operating with the fullback. That's like, that is kind of.

So they got both, right? So the Ravens finally evolved under Munkin, right? So Greg Roman, heavy, heavy, heavy, tight end centric. He comes from that same program with Harbaugh, right, with Jim. And so he comes in there. Zay Flowers now, Bateman, OBJ in there, Andrews. So they still, if they have to, they got Ricard. They can get big when they need to get big.

But they also can spread you out and throw the ball now. Which we assume Herbert will be able to do with Harbaugh if needed. And they got Keenan Allen, I assume, still in the football. Yeah, and it's funny you guys say tight end centric because mock draft season has started, and it's a unanimous at number five Brock Bowers. Chargers, Brock Bowers. Jim Harbaugh, I can't wait for the first thing he has to say about Brock Bowers.

Like, just wait. Man, this guy. So fast. Like the way he talks is one of one as well. Never scared to be himself either. Like not going to try to, not going to try to, just the way he describes things, so good for NFL media. Cannot stress this enough, A.J. Hawk.

I think we're going to get plenty of good sound bites, both after wins and after losses. But he is always the same guy. Like, no matter what, he does always seem to be hardball. He's never putting on an act. Like, I remember playing against him. When he was with San Francisco, they came to Green Bay. I don't know what time of the year it was.

It was cold. We played him. There was like a TV timeout, and hardball was killing this ref. He was going after a ref out like on the hash. And one of their players I looked at, and he just kind of looked at me and shook his head, and he's like, he's crazy as hell, man. He's a great coach. That's all he told me. I'm like, all right, I get it.

I get it. Respect. I understand. And so he has that. Why is he able to have success in the NFL and college? We know how difficult that can be for some people. I guess it's just because Jim is Jim no matter what, right? Well, and also I think he was a player.

So you and I both know. Long time, yeah, long time. You and I both know that if a player is standing in front of us, everybody's going to immediately be like, all right, this is coming from a guy who has at least done it. Now, when he was playing, it was three days, and training camp was four weeks long. And he's got – imagine the shots he probably took, too,

as a quarterback back when you could hit the quarterback. Just – they didn't have the technology yet either to put the carbon fiber on the spine or anything like that. Just taking – and how big he is. He's a lumbering fella, so he's going to take massive shots. So I think players in the NFL would naturally give him more respect. I think that is a natural thing. It gets you in the door, I think.

Obviously, you have to prove that you are knowledgeable We know some Ex-players that also people don't respect A whole lot that get up there and they try to mail it in They don't really care and they think they can Half-ass the whole coaching gig We know Harbaugh is not that guy Never half-assed

I think Harbaugh in Greek is actually never half-assed Never For the whole family. Yeah, that's kind of how it is. But even what you mentioned with, like, the drafts and how the team's built, like, look at their last three draft picks. Like, it was Quentin Johnson, wide receiver, sure. Maybe not exactly, but then they went guard Zion Johnson,

and then they went tackle Rashawn Slater the year before. So, like, they have young talent up front, not just Herbert. And, obviously, they've got to pay guys guys and they're $40 million under the cap. They've already talked about Khalil Mack probably gone. That's going to save a bunch of money. Eckler's gone. Keenan Allen's the one that they're floating out there, but because of Harbaugh, why would he

be in a quarterback? He's not going to get rid of the best receiver on the team by a lot of people. Especially an underappreciated. It feels like Harbaugh and Keenan Allen are simpatico. It does feel like that is potentially a story that could grow well him and herbert i think are going to get along perfectly what were you going to chime in with just his ability to uh connect we talk about being able to coach and reach college kids develop them and do the same

thing in the national football league i mean look they're football lifers right they grew up in a football family with their dad jack that's that's all they know that's all they love and they've been around they've been in locker rooms their entire life growing up as so he's he has he understands it he has an ability to connect and he can all and he's smart and he can develop somebody just mentioned you got to earn the respect of those guys right so once you go and you show me yeah i can help you get to because all they care about in the national football league can you get me to the next contract we want to win and all that but individually can you get me from this first one to the next one and once they figure that out that you can okay this guy knows what

the frick he's talking about winning helps with all that and winning certainly helps with all that yeah and that leads to winning i think too if you get everybody do you win because you're happy are you happy because you win i believe you win because you're happy i believe when everybody's all in that is when success follows as opposed to everybody buys in after you have success but i could be wrong obviously that's a whole thing when you talk about connecting and buy-in and everybody believing oh doesn't happen everywhere it's vick fangio over hey miami with the dolphins all the reports all the reports that bison just couldn't connect with his defense drew rosenhouse gave a statement, basically, during an interview.

There was Omar Kelly, who was covered to Miami Dolphins for a very long time, basically said that a topic of discussion for a lot of defensive players in the McDaniel exit interviews were like, yeah, we just don't really like playing for this guy. This guy sucks. This just ain't how this is going to go. There's been alleged situations where Jalen Ramsey has come out and been frustrated with the way he's being used

or how it's happening. Seemingly, he's not the only one. So I think he signed a four-year deal to be the defense coordinator down there. It doesn't make its way into the second year, and now he's with the Eagles, and the Dolphins are allegedly looking at Brandon Staley, who, if you do recall, Jalen Ramsey

was playing great football with when Staley was the D if you do recall, Jalen Ramsey was playing great football with when Staley was the DC of the Los Angeles Rams. Bubba Gumpino, did we know that this was Vic Fangio over so quickly? I had a weird feeling this was coming for some reason. I don't know why, but the whole secondary appears to have not liked Vic at all. It was nobody, not Chubb, not anybody who played D-line linebackers. It was only the secondary who appears to have an issue. I would rather not have Brandon Staley, but let's see what happens.

He was a good D.C. That's why he got the head coach. Remember, he's a quarterback who's a D.C. He's getting through the eyes of a quarterback. Boom. So he's the perfect mix. Maybe the head coaching role just wasn't for him. Maybe Vrabel doesn't get a head coaching gig.

Maybe Belichick doesn't get a head coaching gig. Belichick coming down to Miami to be a D.C. seems a bit far-fetched. Let's shoot for the stars. Why not? We were paying Vic Fangio $10 million. So, you know, why not? Okay, so allegedly Staley. I don't know if that's been made official. That's just the internet was kind of placing him there.

As the new DC, Vic Fangio does end up going to Philly in like a day. That's like less than 12 hours. AJ, it's pretty wild to see what's taking place. A lot of turnover seemingly happening pretty quickly here around the NFL. Yeah, I wanted to ask Chuck actually. So Chuck, as a

head coach, if you're doing exit interviews and you have multiple players and not guys that are scrapping for time and maybe disgruntled because they're not getting enough time, you have legit starters coming to you and multiple guys say, hey, they don't like this guy. They don't like how they're being utilized. They don't like the scheme. What do you do? Have you ever been in that situation? Yeah, you have you know you don't have names to me aj it's it's like there's some programs that do really really good that don't foster that kind of stuff they want they want to listen to their players okay and they want to get idea whatever see what's good what's working you can have you know um what are we that leadership group we had council and it wasn't we put that together, and it wasn't what I told them in the beginning.

Like, this isn't for you guys to come in and bitch and moan and complain about, you know. I'm not dealing with that. The eggs are too runny. You know, stuff like that. You know, let's talk about the team. Let's talk about what we can do better to win. You know, stuff like that. So, on those exit interviews exit interviews yeah guys have come in

and they speak their mind you're going to listen to the guys aj that probably deserve you know the head coaches here the front office whoever right they've earned that and you're going to try to filter through it and to me personally you're going to say okay can this be salvaged or you're here you hear so much that you know and then you go to the dc right away chuck do you go to that coach right away and becky i got a lot of guys i got a handful of guys that are saying this is not what we should be doing and this doesn't seem like this this had to be going on and there had to be conversations and my point to coaches and players was like if like they're going to look for a shoulder to cry on players will and if they can they can't go to their position coach, they're going to go to another guy.

And I always told those, if you get a disgruntled employee, right, and he comes to you and he starts bitching about me or he starts bitching about another one, you say, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're talking to the wrong dude. This is a conversation for you and your position coach. So go in there man-to-man and shut the door and have that conversation. This isn't for me. They would come into my office, coaches, players,

and I would say the same thing. I'd pump the brakes. I'd say, whoa, have you had a conversation with Vic? Have you sat down man-to-man with Vic and aired these feelings? And if you haven't, then you need to get up out of my office right now and go see him and try to figure it out. As somebody almost fist fought a special teams coordinator on practice field, that is certainly an awkward situation, though, potentially going forward. But normally when it gets to this point, everybody kind of feels that way, right?

Isn't it like the majority of the people? Don't you think that that is kind of like people aren't just speaking up if it's just one or two people. Like I was not going to put myself in the position that I was going to put myself in if I didn't feel like this is how every human feels. I think that has been on display here in the last couple of weeks. Yeah. Pretty publicly. I think we have to deal with it. Yes.

First hand. And you have a conversation. Here's, okay, here's the expectations. Here's how we're going to do business. Okay. We're not MFing these guys in front of their, you know, we're going to treat them like men. We're going to have grown man conversations. Tell them what's doing good.

And this ain't good enough right now. And have those closed doors. And that's got to be constant. Then you have a conversation. Doesn't get fixed. Then you have another one. Doesn't get fixed. Then you have a third. Doesn't get fixed. Okay, now it's time we got to be constant. Then you have a conversation. Doesn't get fixed. Then you have another one. Doesn't get fixed. Then you have a third.

Doesn't get fixed. Okay, now it's time we got to do something. I do wonder how, because McDaniel's a super pro player down there. Remember, like, hey, we're not risking anybody's injury. We're not doing anything. This high vibe's a great coach. I'm not saying he's not a great coach, but he is a very pro player coach. I wonder if it was also maybe other coaches saying, like, hey,

this ain't seemingly – this doesn't feel like it's the right fit as well. They played good. Yeah. They were a good freaking defense. And then they lost Phillips. They lost Chubb. They lost some guys.

They didn't have Jalen early. Jalen came back, right, after the knee. He didn't play early. Gets two picks in that one game, right, and starts balling. They were a top-five defense. Philly's pumped. Oh, yeah, jacked up. Philly is very pumped.

We get an Italian in here, okay, and also a known guy. I mean, you got Sirianni, Fangio, and we know exactly what you're getting with Fangio, right? Don't you? Don't you kind of know what you're getting with Vic? Absolutely. Like Sirianni, the Eagles, even the players, if they do a little research, know exactly what you're getting. And Vic's not a screamer and holler.

He's a tactician. He's a big brain guy. He's got his X and O's. He knows what he wants. He teaches it, and he's up front. Good for Philly. Now, Miami will figure it out. It just wasn't right for them. Right, Tom? Yeah, Cam Smith, they drafted in the second round, cornerback, did not play one single snap this season. And he was the first guy to tweet out.

He tweeted out just a lock emoji. Oh, nice. We got to go back and re-watch Hard Knocks now, the end season. He wasn't really on it. Fangio wasn't really on it. Yeah, but even just the vibes of the defense. Like there was that one scene where McDaniel was running around to everybody talking

a whole bunch of junk and there was one group, and this isn't like a bash towards him, but when he goes over to the DBs, Jalen Ramsey doesn't even turn around. He has his back to him. And that's the head coach. Just that little scene as a vibe feels like that's a problem.

Yeah, so that Philadelphia Eagles situation is hilarious. Yeah. You got a millennial, like, a lot of love and respect for Mike McDaniel. What was that, Chuck? Keep it coming. Whatever it was, keep it coming. It just might have been oil and gas. You got a 67, 68-year-old school guy,

and then you got the guy in joggers. Why did you say, is Vic taller than him? That was just age scale? No, age. Because it felt like... No, no, no. And he's, I mean, proven to be a really good coach,

but it just might be... Shouldn't that be the best staff, though? Chuck, to have the best staff, to have a mixture of, hey, we got some tough old school, hard-nosed guys mixed in with the younger generation? I would want that. In theory. Smart guys, a lot smarter than me. Guys that you can go to

as a first-time head coach. Like, I was very lucky to have B.A., right? A guy that's been around the block, smart as hell, all that stuff, right? Knock on the door, hey, B.A., you got a second? Not second not no can i you got a second go in and close the door and say hey look this is what we got going on what do you think you don't if you got a bunch of young guys never been around the block and never done anything who are you going to go to as the head coach you're on an island and you gotta have to give you the real opinion too chuck if they're young guys

and you don't want a bunch of guys just to be yes men. Well, and some guys might not know what the right answer is either. So they might be given an answer that they don't even know if it's the right answer. So having somebody who's been there done that's good, which is like the Tom Telesco hire for the Raiders for Antonio Pierce. He's obviously been a GM a long time. He was with Bill Polian at the Indianapolis Colts. I think he was with Bill Polian at the Carolina Panthers.

He was with Bill Polian at the Indianapolis Colts. I think he was with Bill Polian at the Carolina Panthers. He was with Bill Polian at the Buffalo Bills. Obviously, they were a part of building up all three of those programs at the time into winning franchises and into those ones that every team is hoping to become. So then when he gets his opportunity with charges, he was there a long time, over a decade. He was there a long time. Fired mid-season, which I think surprised all of us. Like, damn, firing a GM and a head coach midseason, and then without even missing a year, he's the head coach within the division, or the GM in the division of the Raiders, and I think

you listen to Chuck talking, you listen to a lot of people around the NFL, the reason why they're saying they think that Davis loved him so much is like, experience. Antonio Pierce, although he's a great player, and he's shown to be a great coach, there's going to be shit that's going to pop up. There's going to be shit that's going to pop up there's going to be stuff that's going to pop up and having somebody that's been in in that chair that's been there done that is a good play and then you look over at the carolina

panthers okay dan morgan who i i'm just learning about i love him he's the man he's awesome okay from what i've heard i love him never been a before. Canales, never been head coach before. He's an author, though, deep thinker. They're both very deep thinkers. We assume that they'll have success because we like to bestow optimism onto every situation. But it's like, yet again, Tepper's in a situation where – but he tried Frank Reich, I guess, is what he was thinking.

I tried experience before. It didn't work. Now I'm going brand new. I guess we never know. We have no idea if any of these hires are good right now. Schefter put out a tweet kind of updating the entire situation around the NFL. The Commanders do not

have a head coach, but everybody's thinking that's Ben Johnson. Everybody's thinking the Detroit Lions, Ben Johnson's going to go over there. Bobby Slowick, offense coordinator for the Texans name, has been linked to the Commanders, but as of right now, no hiring. Seahawks, they have Dan Quinn in there for a second in-person interview. interview obviously he had great success with the seahawks whenever he was the leader of the legion of boom back in the day atlanta falcons have interviewed harbaugh

bill belichick vrabel raheem morris slowick bob slowick they've tried everybody out everybody thought they were potentially going the Belichick route. Now that it's a wide-open case, Schefter says, after interviewing Bill Belichick, you would assume maybe they are thinking about very much moving on from Belichick and one of these other dudes potentially as an option. Chargers, Raiders, Patriots, Titans, Panthers, Don. Three still left at the moment.

AJ, any of those super surprising to you? Any of those a thought of what you think will get finished next? What are your thoughts on this situation of the current hiring cycle? I mean, I would imagine what the Falcons might be next or the Seahawks if they do officially sign Dan Quinn. Did Belichick do a second interview with the Falcons? Do we know? Yes. So he did a second interview.

They let him out of the place when they knew he wasn't getting courted by a bunch of other teams like yeah that shows that they they're not dead serious about signing him at least right now i mean they still could end up doing it but yeah that i wonder how those interviews go i really do like what do they what does he want to make sure is in place if he's there man i wish they filmed these things we have to watch some of them so vrabel's interviewing there today i believe yep and then he had a flight to the Panthers allegedly scheduled, but that's obviously gone now because Canales gets a head coaching job. So if you think about Belichick, Harbaugh, and Vrabel, it's like Arthur Blank is seemingly trying to bestow a little bit of a hard-nosed type culture in there at the head coaching position.

What do you think? And what's Fugues and what's not Fugues? It's an appealing job, too. We talked about the talent on that Atlanta team. You need a quarterback, probably. Eighth pick in the draft. Yeah, good pick. Yeah, but I don't know what their cap deal is.

I don't know if they have capital to move up with that eighth pick to try to get something higher to get in the money for trying to get up Drake May or Caleb. I don't think they can go that far. get in the money for trying to get up Drake May or Caleb. I don't think they can go that far. But they've got players. Jayden Daniels has passed Drake May on the most recent Mel Kiper mock draft. That's right.

He's two now, huh? Yeah. Well, Herbstreet said that at the Army-Navy game whenever we were up there doing the show. He said Jayden Daniels. I think Jayden Daniels, the Patriots thought there was a chance. I was praying. That you'd be able to get him maybe with the second pick you have in the first draft in the teens or whatever because nobody's really talking about him as an nfl

prospect he would obviously go on to win the heisman and then people like kirk herbstreet would come out and say once they talk to this guy and once they get to know him and learn his story and watch his film jayden daniels is gonna skyrocket in the nfl conversation that's happened before the even interview process started with Jaden Daniels. Good for him. Drake May obviously still up in a conversation. He didn't win a lot of games. That's all right.

What do you mean? I mean, how many games did he start, though? I think that's a huge deal. How many games did he actually play? Played a lot of football. A lot. A lot of football. I think we're fine.

And not like, well, nothing is 100%. Nothing's concrete. But that does help you, I think, when you have a bunch of reps already under your belt by the time you get to the league at the quarterback position especially another thing that nfl people will like or certain nfl people will like he was offered like five million or something to go play somewhere else and he said nah i'm staying in north carolina i love staying here like that says a lot about him older brothers very competitive loves ball loves competing. He's huge. Huge.

He is huge. I got a chance to see him. That's like Aiden Hutchinson. When I saw Aiden Hutchinson, you forget what a specimen this thing is. Monster. Holy shit. When I met Drake May, it was the same thing. I'm like, why am I looking up at the – I didn't think I was going to be –

How tall is he? Like 6'6". He's 6'4", 230. He's like the Manny. I remember we played the Colts. I saw Peyton. Yes, and he's big. Like his presence is big.

Good basketball player, obviously. His older brother's good. Good golfer. Good football player, obviously. Very – they say his football IQ. Yeah, quarterback, coach. So, you know, like if he goes to Bama or if he goes to some other school that was thinking Ohio State,

if Drake May was the quarterback, good call, Connor. If Drake May was quarterback of Ohio State this past year. First overall. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. They're probably winning the entire thing. Yeah.

But Caleb Williams, obviously people are saying once in a generation. And when you watch him play college ball, he's electrifying. Will he be able to play that same style in the NFL? That's the only question. Yeah. Like I'm excited to see. If he can, he's electrifying. Will he be able to play that same style in the NFL? That's the only question. Yeah. Like, I'm excited to see. If he can, he's going to be phenomenal. If he can't, it's like, all right, it was awesome in college.

I think he will be able. I would like you on the record to say, I think he will be able to. But whenever you're watching these D-lines on Sunday, and he's outside linebackers, and then you watch the college ones, like, granted, they'll play against two to three guys a year that are going to end up in the NFL that are outside linebackers, and then you watch the college ones. Like, granted, they'll play against two to three guys a year that are going to end up in the NFL that are outside linebackers and D-line and everything like that. The NFL is the all-star game of every generation before you.

And the slow, try-hard, good sound, they fade out. Not around. And you know who's still in there? 4-2, 4-3, 4-4. A lot of his game is extending and shaking, and I think he will be. This is me saying I think he will be able to do this in the NFL. But if he can't, we're going to have to learn a lot about deciphering a defense and can he make every throw inside the pocket.

That's the whole question. So I love Caleb, and i'm excited to see if he can work in the nfl but that's that whole thing can he be the same guy in the nfl is certainly a worthy question to be asked with especially with how athletic the nfl is now well and it's not necessarily fair but when they talk about his athleticism and like his speed and his elusiveness like a lot of that probably comes down to like what he runs at the combine. Like if he runs, uh, you know,

like a high four, five, like a four, six 40 and Drake Mays kind of within that same ballpark. And then Jaden Daniels goes out and runs like a, a low four, three or something like that. Like then are a lot of people going to be like,

okay, well, Jaden Daniels is clearly the superior athlete. He won a Heisman. Like we've seen what he can do. And do we see him potentially start to slide down a little bit if it's not like, oh, okay, well, he's an unbelievable athlete on tape.

But then when we're watching him at the combine and his... You know all you need? You just need one billionaire. True. Yeah. Bingo. That's all you need. You need one billionaire to be like,

yup, that's the face of my program. To me, it's like pairing them with the head coach, all right, and then the OC. And are they going to do and run a system that is, you know. Conducive. Conducive to this guy's skill set. Shane Steichen, they went and got Anthony Richardson because of that offense and what he did with Hurts.

And here's how we're going to use the guy. And we're going to accentuate his strengths how we're going to use the guy. And we're going to accentuate his strengths. And we're going to hide any weakness that he has. So, to me, it's like where they end up. And if you get some guys that don't know how to develop a guy, that's a lure. Harbaugh, he's won everywhere he's been, right? But look at the quarterbacks that he's had and he's developed and have flourished in his program.

Yeah, he can coach. The guy can coach. Yeah, and that's the thing. Without a doubt, Justin Fields coach. The guy can coach. And that's the thing. Like, we are just no – without a doubt, Justin Fields is not playing quarterback in Chicago. Like, are we all on that same – because I don't think I'm there yet where it's, hey, for sure Fields is gone and they're going to draft Caleb. But, I mean, it's probably the most likely situation.

It just feels like that process hasn't even really started yet. Yeah. I'm pumped for draft season. So pumped. Because it's such a joke. Yeah. I'm pumped for draft season. So pumped. Because it's such a joke. Yeah. It is such a joke. It's going to change.

It's going to change a thousand times from now until then as well. And for people that don't know our show or are pretty new to our show, draft night is one of our biggest nights every single year. Love it. And the reason why is because leading up to the draft, obviously we cover it all. Combine's here in our backyard. It's been extended another year here in Indianapolis. It's the perfect city for it.

I'm happy it's sticking around. But none of it means shit. Literally none of it means shit. We have no idea. Marvin Harrison Jr. is going to be a great NFL wide receiver, right? Yeah. Maybe. What if he ends up in a place where a guy can't throw the damn ball?

There's so many different factors that go into it all. How does this person handle having money now and free time and not just having his entire life scheduled like it is in college? There's so many factors in having success. And I think the reason why we cover it that way is because we've both been in a locker room, and obviously Chuck has coached locker rooms, where, boy, this draft pick was to put took my

friend's job on draft night so my friend gets fired for this person to come in because they're younger and better and everything and then for one reason or another just can't do right just can't just can't adjust to the game can't adjust to the lifestyle can't handle it has off the field stuff potentially happening maybe in practice their work ethic isn't the same as what every other nfl guys you just you just have no idea and it's impossible to project what the cut of somebody's jib is in some of these interviews which is why the draft is so awesome because everybody's so matter of fact about something being great or being terrible when really it's a craps game aj it's literally a craps game yeah and i know

lambo loves talking about when they grade the draft, like the day after. Oh, who won the draft? That's almost the same thing, though, we do with head coaches. If you won the press release and you hired a great coach, none of that really matters. Who cares? Great if you're a fan-based excited for a couple months.

If you don't win games, it doesn't mean anything if you won the fans back in February when you hired a coach. I appreciate people being excited. It's when they go the other way. This guy's terrible. It's like, you have no idea. I don't know. We don't know either way, guys.

We don't know either way yet. J.J. Walker booed out of Houston. He's not the only one. The Detroit Lions had the worst draft in history. They got four starters out of that. They're currently in the NFC Championship. And then you heard Chuck there. He said, like, quietly as a college coach, recruiting.

I mean, you have no idea for recruiting class. I'm sorry. No, that's a good thing. Look at the Packers, the Jordan Love draft. I wanted to drive off a bridge going home, and then now four years later, I'm going to the moon because

they got the right guy, but it took four years for him to actually get an opportunity. Ladies and gentlemen, let's pivot away from the NFL and from football, and let's go to the squared circle. Oh, yeah. This weekend is one of the greatest events just of anything that ever exists. The Royal Rumble. He's down in Florida on Saturday night, only available on the cock, Peacock, obviously.

And the man who's joining us now has been around the wrestling business forever now there's a lot being talked about today in wwe world but this man is coming on to talk about the greatness of the run that he has not only had with the current reigning defending undisputed heavyweight champion of the entire world universal champion of the entire world, universal champion of the entire world, but what he's done for the entire business as a whole. Founder of ECW, current wise man to our tribal chief. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Heyman.

Hey, Paul! How we doing? We still doing this? We still doing this? This? Are we still the ones? Oh, absolutely. We're still the ones? Of course we're the ones. Okay, all right.

I just wanted to mention. When it comes to ESPN, sir, you're the one. No, no, no, no. People are saying a lot of different things about that there, Paul. People are saying a lot. You know, the bigger you get, Mr. McAfee, the more they're going to come after you. Let them come after you with everything they got, because what they got doesn't compare to what you got, sir. That sounds from

experience of a man that's been at the top for a very long time let's talk about being at the top royal rumble is obviously an event that can catapult and change careers roman reign is at the top of the mountain they're talking about building a different mount rushmore for this man rock just said that the other day on first take because of his greatness but when you think about the royal rumble on Saturday night, what's at stake for some of these superstars? Why should people who maybe don't follow the wrestling world as much maybe tune in on Saturday to electricity for three hours or so?

Because it is the most unpredictable event of the year. And I don't just mean in WWE or in sports or entertainment entertainment or sports entertainment you just don't know what's going to happen and here's here's the the most exciting part about it we don't know what's going to happen because there's so many variables when you have potentially 30 people in the ring at the same time now the likelihood of all 30 being in there by the time the 30th man or woman comes out is small. With that many hands and feet running around the ring, things can go wrong. And as Vince McMahon used to say, what could possibly go wrong on live television? So it's not only an unpredictable event, it's an event where more conspiracy theories come out in the media by people who have knowledge of the inside tracking saying, here it is, here's your spoiler, here's what's going to happen, here's what's going to happen at WrestleMania.

They're all wrong. Because everyone's trying to understand the dynamics, the plots, the storylines, the inter-exchanges of the interchanges that happen at the Royal Rumble that then propel you into the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania. It'd be like me telling you what was going to happen over the weekend when you had the two hottest, youngest quarterbacks in the NFL battling against each other and were saying, hey, that's me. What the score is going to be an hour before the game. Everybody thinks they know, but nobody truly knows. And you don't know until it's over. And that game can change your career

forever and your legacy, just like the Royal Rble has the opportunity to do that the road to wrestlemania starts at the royal rumble and potentially a road to a legacy remembered forever in wrestling starts at the royal rumble this saturday as well for many 30 superstars well probably 20 superstars can change the trajectory of their entire career 10 normally big names all the famers legends come back but there's a group 20 or so that can change everything for their family and for their future where an unknown can become a legend in one move it's where someone i mean can you imagine the publicity of someone who throws someone who is right now i would say favorite to win is cm punk so what happens if some unknown someone from nxt someone that comes in from out of the blue

someone that comes in from another promotion someone that hasn't been around in years throw cm punk over the top rope or cody rhodes over the top rope or Cody Rhodes over the top rope. Well, what happens if a surprise comes in and you go, my God, this is the surprise that's going to win and go on to WrestleMania against Roman Reigns or against Seth Rollins and that surprise gets dumped over the top rope, Hunter gets thrown over the top rope. Now, if it's by CM Punk or Cody Rhodes, I understand that. But what if it's by an unknown? What if it's by CM Punk or Cody Rhodes, I understand that. But what if it's by an unknown?

What if it's by someone you've never seen before? What if it's by a returning legend? What if it's from someone who comes in from another promotion? I mean, and all of a sudden you have Gunther breathing down someone's neck. Yeah, here we go. There are so many variables in the Royal Rumble match itself, let alone in the Royal Rumble event, with Roman Reigns defending the title in a fatal four-way match,

which has been designed. How'd you let that happen? Paul, how'd you let that happen? You're the wise man. You've been around the business a long time. Roman doesn't even have to get pinned. He loses his title. He's had it for over 1,200 days.

Doesn't even have to get pinned. He's taking on Randy Orton, LA Knight. What? And AJ Styles, the former champion of himself. And if any of them pin each other, Roman Reigns is no longer the champion. You let that happen. Come on. That's on your watch.

That's on you. I didn't think you would ever let that happen. Which is why I'm not even wearing a tie today. I'm nervous as hell. I'm spitzing all over the place around here. You know, here's what happened. wearing a tie today. I'm nervous as hell. I'm spitzing all over the place around here. Here's what happened. We have a villainous James Bond

in all this. Nick Aldis as the SmackDown executive in charge of all things related to SmackDown. And he is as corrupt an official as I've ever seen in any sport.

Disgusting! I'm sorry? It's disgusting, I bet. I can't take corruption up there. Especially at the... It's repugnant. Horrible. So this Aldis, Nick Aldis guy, who should be a

James Bond villain, wants to play a villainous James Bond and he likes his little surreptitious his little devices that he likes to fire back at us and so far he's a worthy adversary and he's been coming at us like I don't know if David Stern had a real bug up his ass against somebody, he could make their life miserable yeah, rest in peace

that's what the guy's been doing to us and he has a real problem with the tribal chief Roman Reigns look how Roman Reigns though is, and you know this better than anybody yeah you're only as great as the opponents you put down Look how Roman Reigns, though, is, and you know this better than anybody. Yeah. You're only as great as the opponents you put down.

And the challengers that come after you. And the last time we were in a situation like this, Roman Reigns had to defend the title on WrestleMania against both Daniel Bryan and Edge, two Hall of Famers. What did Roman Reigns do? He stacked them. Smashed them, stacked them, and I forget what the bottom one was, but it was a great shirt. It was one of the greatest shirts of all time. Yeah, racked them.

Yeah, there it is. That was it. Smashed them, stacked them, racked them. That was the end of it. Stacked them. That was it. The most declaratively definitive finish in the history of a WrestleMania title match. Now, I'm not suggesting that Roman Reigns is going to stack AJ Styles, LA Knight,

and Randy Orton. But I'm also not suggesting that he's not capable of doing it. Okay. So that might be the game plan. Might be giving away the strategy here. Might be giving away strategy. Wise man, you lost a tie. You let him get into this match.

Now you're potentially giving away the game plan. You know what I mean? That's not good, Paul. Don't love it. AJ has a question for you. Paul, I know you said, I don't know if you're giving breathing air to the conspiracies of people out there, but I wonder, have any of those conspiracies ever been somewhat correct

where people did guess possible surprises or anything? And also, is there a chance Bob Backlund may run out in the Rumble? We see him walking in. Backlund? Bob Backlund's 145 years old, number one. He's in great shape. He's in better shape than 75% of the roster because he's that freaking crazy when it comes to his training.

Those amateur wrestlers, they just don't know when to stop. I would hope that Bob Backlund's not in the Royal Rumble because, God forbid, he wins and then poor Seth Rollins would have to defend his title against Backlund because we'd have to pull some legal

maneuver to get out of that. Not because Roman Reigns is afraid of Bob Backlund, but there's just no box office in it. Yeah, no money. As for conspiracy theories being correct, well, Mr. McAfee was accused

of a conspiracy theory a few weeks ago that I bet is correct. Joe Rogan has been accused of conspiracy theories that I'm sure are correct. Joe Rogan has been accused of conspiracy theories that I'm sure are correct. I mean, not about, you know, no man on the moon, but there's a lot of things that Rogan has laid out there that probably are correct.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa! Which ones? USA. USA. USA. We got somebody on the moon, yeah. Yeah, for sure. I've been accused in my time of a few conspiracy theories,

and maybe one or two of the 10,000 I've laid out there have been correct. Yeah, of course. So, you know, listen, if you play a guessing game, at some point you're going to be right. If you give me 100 guesses as to how many points a football team can score, at some point I'm going to get it right. Well, unless they score 101 points, which would be crazy. Would you imagine an NFL game?

You get 100 guesses to guess how many points they're going to score. All right, give me 1 through 100. And then Patrick Mahomes somehow goes out and scores 110 points. Damn it! This guy's an asshole. Paul, how long... Is that a spoiler? No. No. No, it's just a prediction.

Hey, how many years you been in wrestling business? Odd. I broke in at 15 as a photographer in 1980. Yeah, but you weren't really a photographer, right? You used the photography to get into the room, right? And that you hustled your way into the room. But that's a conspiracy theory there. No, no, no.

Yeah, that's a matter of fact. If I do recall. I became a performer at 21 in 1987. Okay, so 36 years you've been doing this, depending upon what time of year it was, maybe 37, depending upon the starting date. Roman Reigns, like The Rock said it on First Take the other day, and that feels like that would be big box office

for old Paulul hayman in roman reigns but the rock said something about if there's a mount rushmore in wrestling everybody has arguments on who's on it he said we need to build another mountain to put roman reigns's face on it so he has the utmost respect obviously for his cousin i do believe roman is rock's cousin um why is that why is roman the greatest of all time and uh how do you feel about the current run where he has been champion for how many days oh my god we're approaching 1300 now straight wow 365 days in a year okay in the world not just the days but but it's not like on a day that he he he loses and then he then he wins it back and so therefore it's a consecutive day it's it's it's it's it's 1300 undefeated micro moments of every single day

it it's just he's untouchable why roman reigns is is the greatest of all time and deserves his own mount rushmore because in the modern era no one can hold the title this long. It's impossible. The system is not designed for that to happen. The same way the system is not designed through the Major League Baseball draft, the NBA draft, the NHL draft, the NFL draft, for a real dynasty to take place anymore. The Chicago Bulls of the 1980s,

the New York Yankees of the 1920s, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys of the 70s and the early 80s, the game is not designed for that anymore, nor is WWE. WWE doesn't want a champion for four years straight. They just don't. It's too dominant.

It's too much of this and to focus on one talent. What happens if that talent says, well, my contract's coming up and I can't be beat and this is what I want? You have to give it to him because he's unbeatable because he's the man. He's the tribal chief. So nobody is supposed to become that powerful within wwe anymore it's the system's just not designed for it when roman reigns has bucked against the system and has maintained that level of dominance at the very top where no one else is even in his stratosphere let alone in his league in an era where it's not supposed to happen now back in

the day of the rock and stone cold steve austin and dx was supposed to happen there's supposed to be a star there's supposed to be a hulk hogan a bruno sam martino and and later on a rock austin white triple h all right sean michaels what taker all right it's supposed to happen Rock, Austin Triple H, Shawn Michaels Taker That's not supposed to happen anymore It's supposed to be spread out amongst the roster That's why there's 30 men in the Royal Rumble Competing for the mere opportunity Of cashing in that victory

To face either Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns At WrestleMania So Roman Reigns to me And to everyone else that has any semblance Of intelligence Is the greatest of all time and deserves his own Mount Rushmore. And I'd even throw the other four off their Mount Rushmore and put his face on that one, too. All four of them? Ooh.

Yeah. So, five Roman Reigns' faces on the side of mountains. Well, four on one, and then one on the other with just one, a little face with a little less of a double chin. Oh. Of his wise man. What are those called? What were those part of the Rockies we were on

when we were on out the boulder? Flatirons. What are they called? Flatirons. Yeah, but what's that called? Those types of, before the mountain, there's... Plateau? Plateau. Yeah, but what's that called? Those types of... Before the mountain, there's...

Plateau? Plateau? No, no. Foothills? Foothills. Foothills. There should be a Paul Heyman foothill, you're saying, on the other side of that Mount Rushmore for Roman writing.

Just for demographic purposes of putting a little synagogue there so then you get all the Hebrews that come to see you. I love that uh we have yarmulke sales alone would be enormous and i don't know how many yarmulkes you sell in the dakotas right now you know would you pick it up and move it would be the next question if it did have a synagogue be a part of it to be make it a little bit more uh easy to travel to i mean that's a whole conversation you're gonna have to have, whenever it's all said and done. We have a minute until a hard out on ESPN, but we'll continue on YouTube

and ESPN+. So if I cut you off during your next great answer, understand that it's so I can say goodbye to people. Connor has... You can talk in soundbites. Yeah, bingo. Well, Connor has a question for you that actually has a great setup, so I'm going to interrupt a great answer from you. It's just what I'm telling you right now. Yeah, Wise Man, obviously the road to WrestleMania

starts Sunday, and that road ends in Philadelphia. What can we expect out of Philly as far as atmospheres go in WrestleMania? Because LA's one thing, and that's where it was, and that was fantastic, unbelievable set, but Philadelphia as a whole is a completely different city. What do you think we're going to get

out of that atmosphere from the Philadelphians, brother? Single greatest crowd in the history of WWE, an interactive audience the likes of which you've never seen. Imagine 100,000 people at the same time going to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. And that mosh pit will be in Philadelphia April 6th and 7th for WrestleMania.

Soundbite. Boom. Baby. We're off ESPN. We'll see you tomorrow for a feel-good Friday. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. Nailed it.

Wow. Obviously, you got history with Philadelphia ECW. ECW. ECW. ECW. And for the years that you've been in, we're good. We're still good. You are the one, by the way. You are the one.

I think everybody acknowledges that. But for the years you've been with the WWE, obviously the London crowds get a big pop. A lot of the European crowds get massive respect. I've had the opportunity to be in some places where, like, hey, it feels different. But to describe the Philadelphia crowd as the single greatest wrestling crowd is obviously a massive statement by somebody who's been around a long time is that because of the ecw days you got to see it at its finest or has it rang true basically throughout it all

and why are they such a good crowd you think they're such a great crowd because they were they were trained to be by paul heyman and they will continue on that legacy because they will have plenty of reason to stand, cheer, hoot, holler, stomp, and go crazy in acknowledgement of the greatness of their tribal chief, Roman Reigns. All right. Well, it sounds like you got it figured out. We can't thank you enough for joining us. You know, I'll be watching, and one of the things that is difficult to do is to focus on what's going on in the ring

when your foothill ass is on the side there. You know, your facial expressions, your despair, your emotion, your energy, your excitement. Buddy, I told you one time, I'm like, Paul, I want to let you know, because you know that I'm a massive fan i want to let you know because you know that i'm a massive fan of yours and you've helped me out immensely in every aspect of my profession not just with this show everything you've literally helped me out with everything i said buddy it's hard for me not to just say well paul hayman steals the show every time you go additive additive additive i just want to add to the scene you certainly do that and anytime you want to come

back and add to this program we we'd be incredibly grateful, Paul. Oh, cool. I'll see you tomorrow. Tomorrow's Friday. You ain't going to see me anywhere. You ain't going to see me anywhere. Smackdown, though, I heard there's a commentary. Huh?

I heard there's a commentary spot opened up. Huh? Huh? Wise man? Not my recommendation. it means a lot come to the rumble we'll talk about it I got a kid now championship weekend

hey listen whatever the case whenever I see you next I'll give you a hug and I appreciate you ladies and gentlemen and the rumble is in Florida where the weather is very nice oh it's cold we could you know take the trip up after Tampa And the rubble is in Florida where the weather's very nice. Oh, it's cold and dreary. We could, you know, take the trip up after Tampa. We have to St. Pete.

We go to Boca. We play some marjong and shuffleboard, you know. Get with the Italians. Do a little highlight gambling down there in South Florida. We could really do the full experience. I want to let you know, Paul, 0% visibility this morning in Indiana. 0% visibility with the fog.

It was a fucking movie. The tribal chief and I will send a jet. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Heyman. Thank you, Heyman. He's hilarious. The best. So, whenever I was going through my different runs and stuff with the wwe or whatever was happening he would just like slowly walk up next to me and then just drop like the greatest sage

advice of all time pat on the back and then just kind of walk away and i'm like okay holy shit yes that makes a lot of sense whenever you say it like that. So, like, there was, you know, with me talking, a lot of people just kind of say, hey, do it. Just do whatever the fuck you want. That's pretty much what I said. We don't know how to tell Pat McAfee how to talk like Pat McAfee. So just do whatever you want. And I'm like, okay, cool. That's very nice that people say that and have the amount of trust and respect.

But every once in a while, I would be like, can I get a little bit of a... Can I get a... Can I get like an assistance, you know, in something or anything like that? And a lot of people, you know, I think they're like, we don't want to fuck it up. Like, hey, we don't want to... And they get like kind of... I think we talked to Nick Kahn the other day. Nick Kahn and I, great relationship, obviously, in the way we communicate with each other. But Paul would always just kind of into, I think we talked to Nick Khan the other day, Nick Khan and I great relationship,

obviously in the way we communicate with each other. But Paul would always just kind of walk over and go, have you thought? And then would say something. I'm like, Oh, fucking genius. Yes,

you're right. Thank you for that. And then we keep it moving. And I asked him one time, like why he did that. And, uh, he paid me like a massive compliment and was like, so sincere and like shook my hand.

And I remember like the little kid in me me that was watching ECW back in the day and then seeing the way he's done it all. It's massive respect for that man. His box office is over billions of dollars with him being the manager. The guy has been there, done that. His whole life, right? He broke in when he was 15. He's been there ever since, hasn't he?

Yeah, we had the photo of one of the first times he was photographed in a wrestling magazine. Because back in the day, dirt sheets in the magazines were kind of how you covered everything. He's obviously talking to Andy Kaufman here whenever he was breaking it all in. But he lied about being a photographer. And he said he was like 19, 20 years old, too. And he was in New York City. So he just had a camera. And he's like, oh, I'm covering for something.

He was not. And then he gets in there. And then he just kind of warmed up to people. And then he found himself in the writer's room, and then he found himself pitching ideas. And then by the time he was 21, it was like, here we go. He's already had eight years of experience or six years of experience at the highest of levels pretty much. And that was back when it was territorial. So, like, you're learning not only how New York does it, but how the South does it, how Texas does it, how the West.

Like, he's just, so he's literally lived it. You know, we talk about Harbaugh family, how the dad was a D2 national champion coach in Kentucky, and like they have just kind of been in football their whole life. That's what Heyman is. So I'm thankful he made time, and the Royal Rumble is worth a watch. Oh, it's going to be awesome. No matter how old you are, some superstar that you fell in love with whenever you were either a kid or watching is going to show up yep and then everybody's gonna get it watch it yeah yeah it's good it's fun yeah give me a live event it's a

fun fun you got peacock I've got an opportunity on the cock the cock yeah peacock yep I got the Miz winning wrong you're wrong let's FaceTime the Miz. Could you imagine the ticket price for that Philly WrestleMania? If it was Rock Roman? I mean, not as much as this weekend's games, but that's fine because if you use the number one ticketing app on planet Earth and the moon. Okay. Seat Geek.

Boom. Hey, that's a great call right there. Right now, PMS playoffs. Code PMS playoffs gets you 15% off playoff tickets up to $50 at SeatGeek, the number one ticketing app. It's unbelievable. It's something you should definitely look into if you don't. Listen, they rate all the tickets 1 to 10, red, green, yellow.

It's the best. Go to SeatGeek. And obviously, they're the ticker presenter. So they like being on top of all the good news. That's right. And that's because they're the ticker presenter. So they like, you know, being on top of all the good news. That's right. And that's because they're a good company. They're a ticketing company that survived the world event stoppage for two years. The reason why is because they're a fantastic company.

We're one of their first partners, I think. And they were our first partner. Been with us since the very beginning here, 2017-ish. And they've only gotten better tech's only gotten better the deals have only got this one's interesting 15 off up to 50 bucks bingo but you're not going to get any ticket that 15 is going to be less than 50 i saw this weekend the games are absurdly so they should have just said 50 50 bucks off yeah that's what they should have said they had a preface before the the real games, these high-money games started.

Yeah, but I think every playoff game probably this year, if I had to guess, unless you're just getting one ticket maybe? No, you're not getting into any playoff game for— But they had to cover their ass. For sure, for sure. Yeah, just in case there was some, like, $20 win. Behind a pole or something. Yeah, can't see it.

Yeah, low-vis. Shout-out to SeatGeek. We appreciate you, SeatGeek. Love you, SeatGeek. Appreciate Paul as well. I've got to call the Royal Rumble. It was so much fun. Life's much different now. Last year. That was Wee Man? That was WrestleMania. Two years ago. No, but he did.

He came out in Johnny Knoxville came out. Yeah, he was there. Johnny Knoxville came out. He was wearing a cape, I think. Yep. Yeah. St. Louis right It was very cold San Antonio

The rumble? I think the rumble was in St. Louis I think That was another one I thought that was the rumble Where did you guys go to the boozy brunch? St. Louis That was two years ago Last year was San Antonio.

Last year was San Antonio in Alamo. Bingo. It was because, yeah, literally like day before was asked, hey, do you want to come commentate Royal Rumble? You're right. I remember now. Absolutely do. And then there was plane issues where I almost didn't make it.

And then I literally landed 14 or 15 minutes before show starts. In plane, car, right to gorilla, seemingly 500,000 people. Just immediately, I was like, God damn. Like it was a wild, welcome back to the WWE. I don't think anybody knew that particular time other than like two people. No, nobody did. Michael Cole, I think, didn't even have a clue. The people down ringside, they had to grab a chair.

Hey, welcome back. We had no fucking idea you were going to be here. So I've been lucky to be a part of a couple Royal Rumbles. It is electrifying. Obviously, I've watched since I was a little kid. This is the one. If you're not a full-time wrestling fan, this is the one that will really captivate you.

Excited to see Hulkster win this one. It is down there near Tampa. Is it in Steter's saint pete yeah coming out first and lasting the entire time got karaoke at his bar like every monday night i hear him talk about brother football is beautiful football is. Football has its championship weekend just two days from now. Now, both games will be on Sunday, but championship weekend is a big one this weekend because the Royal Rumble is on Saturday night. Got a chance to chat with Paul Heyman. WWE's in the news right now.

People we know are in the news right now. And boy, I think we are all... I don't even know the proper adjective to describe taking a back i was reading some things and holy shit that is obviously incredibly serious wild insane and uh i didn't know i knew that there was a story that came out before we introduced paul hayman onto the program. But I just got the, holy hell, what's going on over there? Now, obviously, right now in the WWE, there's a transition and the new, but that is something where, I mean, that's, it's that, it's, there's, it's terrible.

It's so many things. Anyways anyways the world is a wild one obviously let's be good to each other that's aj hawk the toxic table is here at boston connor and at ty schmidt one half of the hammer dad cowboys tone digs is here and a man who is our coach the people's coach 36 years in the football world as a coach 18 18 in college, 18 in the NFL. Chuck, we're going out. Chuck! Now, Chuck, we got a chance to talk about a few things today already with you. Jim Harbaugh going to the Chargers, Fangiover down there in Miami. What's going on in Carolina?

Have you had an opportunity, because I know you do follow along on the day-to-day, to see all the Brock Purdy stuff, Chuck? Have you seen all the Brock Purdy stuff that's been taking place? A little bit of it. Guy in his second year of two NFC championships. Obviously, last pick of the draft. The guy getting into the building was just a dream. Making the team was obviously a hope.

Sticking around week to week was just something that he was working his ass off for. Now he's led the team to two straight NFC championships. And some people just, you know, can't see how this is a good quarterback. This is a basic-ass, bland dude that is lucky to be in a system. Now, other quarterbacks have been in the same system and have not performed anywhere near as great as he has. There was a guy picked number three overall, had no capability at all of doing what he is able to do.

And in his second year, he's had massive, massive success. A man who used to work at ESPN, who we have massive respect for, also close ties to the Niners and a quarterback position, spoke on the matter, and this is what Steve Young had to say about Brock Purdy to Adam Schefter. Now. Boom. And we're going to run it.

Steve Young. I've said many times Brock has the force and if you love the Star Wars you know what I'm talking about like Luke Skywalker he has something he can't explain and what it is in football terms is the ability to get a football play

have studied and memorized every aspect of it and all of the tendencies of the defense you're now going to play and then can run that play and literally get the most out of it and figure out and decipher through the play who's going to be the one that should get the ball. You know, like Indiana Jones, go through the mystery of the four sections of two and a half seconds

that you have to decide, and then find that person that's actually going to have the ball, and then deliver it to them, and then do it over and over and over again to where you're unstoppable. Obviously, coming from an office, it's pretty busy, got a lot of things done. I think he's a money guy,

as well as a football legend, and everything else he's got popping off. But what he just described there about Brock Purdy hasn't really been chatted about enough. Like, what he's doing at the rate in which he's doing it, how quickly he's doing it, and how young he is doing it all is a phenomenon, almost. What are your thoughts on Brock it, and how young he is doing it all is a phenomenon almost.

What are your thoughts on Brock Purdy and how Shanahan has kind of developed him? No, it's a great depiction of him because we talk about a lot of guys that have a ton of talent, ton of skill set, a lot of quarterbacks that were taken way higher than this guy was taken, Mr. Irrelevant, that can't do the things that he does. His ability just to process. You know the length of those plays that Steve's talking about. We've got to put them on wristband.

You see those play sheets, right? You can't call all those plays in five games. We have that Sims video, remember, from training camp, where Gruden's giving them a spire to why banana? They have to memorize every one of those calls and then regurgitate. Kyle's telling them in his ear, that play call, and whatever that verbiage is, whether it's digits, words,

this, that, or the other, all the motions and shifts. You know how complicated that offense is, right, with the pre-snap shifts and motions. Handling all that, knowing why it's being called, because he's big brain, okay, it's called in this situation because we're expecting this coverage, and then he snaps the ball. Okay, it is that coverage. If it's not, I brain, okay, it's called this situation because we're expecting this coverage. Then he snaps the ball. Okay, it is that coverage.

If it's not, I diagnose, okay, it was supposed to be three, but they went split safety, middle's open. And then the anticipatory throws, the accuracy of this kid, and then the calmness and poise in the pocket. Second year. Second year. Two NFC championships. Who's done that?

Well, Patrick Mahomes went to six straight. Yep, yep. Okay. Tom Brady went to nine straight. Mahomes had a year, too. Yeah, behind Alex Smith. I think Ben went to his first two seasons, went to the AFC championship. But not, I mean, we're talking about Hall of Famers.

That's all we're talking about is Mount Rushmore type players. And I think that obviously this week, because it is championship week, there's only four teams left. And obviously I did a big I'm done with the Brock Purdy slander thing. But it's real. I obviously believe that Brock Purdy has a lot of support behind him. But for one reason or another, there's just a crew that decides, he hasn't done enough for me yet.

Which I respect and appreciate if you're that hard of a judge of talent. But to fully comprehend what he's doing at this level i think he can't help but say damn this dude might go down in the history books aj yeah i think i i before you even started playing the steve young video i thought of that thinking that he kind of accurately describes what that is and the whole star wars situation i get lost a little bit in all of that i don't i don't know the ins and outs of star may the fourth be with you. Boom. There we go.

Yes. The two to three seconds. The thing that he said, the two to three seconds, he deciphers where does this ball go, what's the defense doing, here we go, and then the ability to deliver it. That's what I think is so crazy that we see guys with crazy arm talent, crazy athletic ability, but if you can't do that, if you can't go through your progressions in a quick manner and do it consistently,

you don't have a chance in the NFL. That's like whenever Dan Orlovsky, who we're big fans of, and obviously he is a man who knows football, does a lot of research. He has to take hacks at everything. That is his job. They call for it. They ask him to do that. But you put Mac Jones in that offense, he'll be able to do the same.

Who says? Who says that's accurate? Nobody. but whenever those things are not me when those things are said people just start thinking yeah he is a system good yeah anybody that could throw a football could do that it's like oh so anybody can throw a football could be an nfl quarterback anybody that can catch a football and run fast can be an nfl wide receiver no there's levels to this shit and this guy has only won and played great. It's time that we say what we're witnessing is historic almost out of this

obviously last pick of the draft, but it is a young guy doing this entire thing. It's almost like thinking about it now that people's opinions on Jimmy G is kind of creeping in. I think everyone is unanimous in the fact that they don't think Jimmy G is that good of a quarterback and that he stinks. And since they went to a Super Bowl with that same team,

people are kind of pissed that Brock Purdy is doing the Jimmy G thing, but people want to bury Brock Purdy instead of kind of lift him up. And maybe that's just us talking about it and thinking about it over and over again. But honestly, maybe that is a reason because everyone's out on Jimmy G. There's no chance he's a starter in the NFL next year. And who knows what that situation holds. But maybe that is why in part of it because of Jimmy G

and now it's Brock Purdy. Jimmy G led this offense. Matt Ryan led this offense. Brock Purdy's leading it better than both of them. And Matt Ryan won an MVP one of the years in which he led this offense. Brock Purdy's doing better than Matt Ryan did that year. Matt Ryan, phenomenal quarterback for a lot of years down there in Atlanta, obviously.

We all agree with that. Now with the Colts, I don't know what the hell happened. That was a disaster. They made him play with ankle weights. It wasn't fair, but for some reason. He was old. His line stunk. Yeah, but his same line started being really good

as soon as he left. Yeah, so you can probably, you know. But also, there was a little cultural issues going on. Yeah, but same line started being really good as soon as he left. Yeah, so you can probably, you know. But also there was a little cultural issues going on. Yeah, exactly. There was a little gambling against his team. The head guy, you know, he didn't do too well after Indianapolis. No, he didn't. Yeah.

But Matt Ryan had great years. Stud. Okay, under the Shanahan offense. The Shanahan offense has had success all over the place. You can kind of look around the NFL and see who's having success with the Shanahan style offense. But what Brock Purdy's doing does not mean that because the style is a good one, that

that diminishes what he's been able to accomplish. I love him. I love everything about him. And I like the fact that people are killing him. I think that's only going to help a guy like Brock Purdy, especially as an Iowa State Cyclone, which is obviously the premier team in Iowa, especially whenever him and Buce hall are there

absolutely not because he actually never beat iowa so you know that kind of debunks that right away but that's neither here nor there um because he's playing great and i actually do love brock purdy but it's interesting because the thing with jimmy g when he was there it was always like hey when this guy's healthy all he does is win you know they never really said anything about i mean granted there was a little bit of like the he excels in Shanahan's system, but no one's saying that about Brock Purdy. Like, hey, despite all this, like all he does is win. He has looked way better under Shanahan than Jimmy G ever did,

numbers-wise and all that kind of stuff. And it is. I mean, it's just we've said it a thousand times, but it's because he's he's not super boisterous in the media he's kind of you know he comes in wearing just uh like an old navy t-shirt and jeans like he kind of just i mean he went to iowa state you know he's from arizona but he went to iowa state like he's not flashy and and and people for whatever reason if you have a bad game they're gonna jump all over that and be like hey this guy sucks the numbers are where are way better

with brock than jimmy g and G. The thing with Jimmy G was always just wait. He's going to make a mistake. It's coming. Brock, on the other hand, if he's not playing well, he has shown already that he is going to play really well in the fourth quarter or on a final drive that matters. He's done that many, many times. Even the loss to the Browns

where he wasn't playing great. He still marched him down on that last drive. When he wasn't playing great last week against the Packers, he marched him down on the last drive. He's there when he needs't playing great. He still marched him down on that last drive. When he wasn't playing great last week against the Packers, he marched him down on the last drive. He's there when he needs to be there. Yep, big-time player makes big-time plays in big-time games and moments. And without Debo, you know, the stats are a little bit different. Debo, though, was seen walking on the sideline, full field,

jogging a little bit, had a ball in his hand. I heard, okay. Did they say they did not see any noticeable injury? Like he looked good, right? So it's his shoulder. So I don't know about how much they did not see any noticeable injury? Like he looked good, right? So it's his shoulder. So I don't know about how much they could really see unless he was doing jumping jacks in both hands or equally. He wasn't going through the blaster, you know, trying to get the ball out.

Holding on to ball, ball security, working on it. He's a big piece of it. And George Kittle told us, you know, like, hey, this last game plan that we just had, I thought Debo was going to score three touchdowns that's why he said going into the game it's like okay debo is gonna eat in this particular game debo gets hurt early they have to adjust completely might have been the reason why they weren't playing their best football brock obviously had to battle with the rain a little bit had the glove didn't

have the glove but once again he's only in his second year he has he has so many things left that he has not even been through or tried or that defensive lineup against whatever player we have. He still has all those things to pull from and to call from. Second-year quarterback with everything that was on the line in that football game to everybody's point about he didn't need to be great until he needed to be great in that fourth quarter and that drive. Overcome everything that happened bad up until that drive i mean for as young as he is the again the poise

and the composure that he has and the faith that think about kyle i mean they knew they had something right otherwise we'd never see this kid first of all and then let's give kyle and and and that offense and the staff and and what he's done with him. And obviously, they're unbelievable teachers. They have a way of getting to these guys and getting them to see these things. And you have to be able to process and comprehend and all that stuff. But then Bobby Slowick is one of his guys, right? Oh, we'll see, Jerry.

And then he goes down. He's never called plays, right? So he calls plays his first year for Houston, and he's got a rookie quarterback, right? And all of a sudden, this guy's the best to ever do it as a rookie in the National Football League with Slowik in his ear running the thing, and he's never done it. So there's something good going on there, right?

Yeah, I'd say. But we've got to nitpick on something. Now, let's go to the other team in that particular game. That quarterback's been drug through the mud numerous times. I'm excited to actually hear Goff and Purdy's pregame conversation because it seemingly mic'd up everybody nowadays, which is great for us as fans. NFL Films has a mic everywhere.

Purdy and Goff can probably have some good convos about, have you heard? Did you see what did? Now, granted, they got their blinders on. Jared Goff at a press conference the other day both gets complimented and shit on in the same moment. And the way he handles it is beautiful. This Detroit Jared Goff has been storybook

and been awesome to watch unfold. Jared Goff's got a lot of really good players, obviously. Oh, thank you. I said thank you. Maybe that view, though, as the superstars, like the 49ers. All right, never mind. Okay. Backhand the puck.

Awesome. Are there guys like St. Brown? Yep, St. Brown was first-team All-Pro. Right, right. So was Panay. Superstar. Sorry, continue. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You've got good questions. But do you feel like this is a chance for bowlers? Yeah, I know what you're getting at, yes. I do, I think we've got a ton of great players who maybe haven't had the national stage up to this point that a lot of other guys have. And obviously they have a ton of good players as well

and a ton of pro bowlers and all pro players over there. And it's yeah we feel like you know we've got a lot of good players too though like you mentioned and um excited to play on another national stage and be able to showcase that i think there's any today no you got it hey that's just like a part of the whole thing though like both these guys have been counted out and obviously shit talk throughout the entirety which makes the story even better i guess aj and it all yeah don't you think it makes their success feel that much better when you kind of you have been through the journey these guys have been jared golf and everything that ended how it ended out west then he comes to detroit and people still think oh he's a bridge guy for a year or two we're going to draft somebody we're going to replace them and then the dude is

absolutely lights out i love his demeanor like he is absolute steady eddie all day long he never seems to get too high too low even in the locker room after the game you can tell the dudes respect him and they know he breeds confidence in the whole team because they feel like hey with this dude at the helm like we have a great chance of winning every game we play foxy wants a lifetime contract and a statue for jerry exactly and it's perfect for detroit underdog story, just like MCDC. No one expected Jared Goff to be good. No one expected MCDC to be good. And they're in Detroit.

Detroit's been bad forever, and now we got our guys, and they're incredible, and it's awesome. And I love his moxie there. What do you think about Jared Goff as a player and what MCDC's been able to cultivate, seemingly, in Detroit quickly? I mean, he's on fire right now. His touchdown to interception, I mean, he's on fire right now. His touchdown to interception, I mean, he's taking care of the ball.

A couple of playoffs games, he's unbelievable. Yeah, I mean, it just it's a great story. It is? It is a great story. Being a cast-off like he was a cast-off and shipped. Huh? You got that cactus pizza on your chest, but a look

on your face. It's a great story. Yeah, it was. What are you saying, Chuck? What are you saying? Chuck, what are you saying? You want to know who I like in the game? Not yet, but you already told us. Yeah, we know.

Yeah, you already told us. They're going to have their hands full with Goff and the boys. The thing I like about Goff is he doesn't throw the prettiest ball every time either. No. He still lets it fly. He'll throw a 25-yard laser duck, and it's just right on the bunny. Boom.

And then it's just like, yup, and we're going to the next play. Doesn't sweat it. I saw him. He did something for Red Bull where they dressed him up, and he went and did a junior college practice. And he was throwing it like 70-yard. He was throwing 70-yard ducks to these guys. They're like, who the hell is this kid?

He was new on the team and everything. It's just... Moxie's always been there. The talent's always been there. He showcased it early with McVay. I think he ended up kind of the way that whole thing unfolded. Now he's getting to be his true self with a coach that is openly willing to fight people for

him. And I think he is empowered by all of it, AJ. I think this is a great show of it yeah I think this is a great like show of what you do when you empower a guy what you kind of give him confidence through whatever they've been doing throughout the week over the last couple years if you remember Dan Campbell kind of questioned Jared Goff publicly a year or two ago and he before he said like what I don't know exact wording of it but he kind of did challenge Jared Goff through the media. Obviously, I'm sure they had talked many times privately before Dan Campbell ever said

that to the media. It seems like they trust each other. They're probably realizing, hey, we're in the middle of a magical run right now. We need to enjoy it, but also at the same time, keep our foot on the gas. Yeah, MCDC talking to Goff. Hey, man, look around, dude.

This is Detroit. This is Detroit. Change. This is Detroit. They're going to have a statue for us, man. I don't want to look ahead, obviously. I don't want to do any of that. But that is, they're going to be tied together forever up in that city. Yeah, 100%.

And just think about the Rams game. I mean, that's a primetime Sunday night game against your old team. The entire stadium is screaming Jared Goff. Jared Goff. And in the locker room. Yes, and the locker room. And that's just in warm-ups. He had to be so nervous for that, and then he balled out and won the game.

It's incredible. We're happy for Goff. Yes. We're happy for the Lions. Sounds like Chuck's like, it's cute. We'll hear your take on the game here in a little bit, obviously. Sometimes all you need is somebody to believe in you, right, and give you that confidence.

Empowerment. You just flourish under that. Especially as a quarterback. Come on now. Especially at the quarterback position, confidence has to be. He got benched. I mean, yeah, he got benched in a playoff game. People aren't talking about that as much.

They're like, oh, he got hurt. It's like, was dressed, ended up in the game, was able to take a snap and throw the ball. The wolf got hurt. So what we're saying, yeah, the wolf got hurt in an ambulance. Yeah, with a neck brace on. He got benched. We've seen some guys not recover from that that have come through this city.

Well, here. Like who? Who? Who are you talking about? Like who, Chuck? The guy that retired at 25. Who cacked his Chuck? I don't know.

Who? Who cacked his Pete's? No, I mean, you've seen guys that just can't ever come back from it. The confidence thing at the quarterback position is paramount. I mean, that is usually. It's like a corner, right? Corners are really, really fragile. And if they start giving up plays, you better put the fire out.

And if you don't put the fire out, they're going to keep coming, keep coming. And once you lose that confidence and that stinger at that spot. It's almost over. Move on. Is that what happened to Buggs? I've coached him for my whole life. It's a lost cause. Get out of here. No, it's almost damn near impossible to get it back.

Yeah. That's a coach's job, though. You're saying move on. No, no, no. I mean, that's, though. You're saying move on. No, no, no. I mean, that's your job. You're a guy walking around. I mean, it looks like a fucking sheep. That's like the – you talked about empowering guys,

and sometimes that's all you need is one person to believe in you. It's real. Like, that's what they talk about with coaching, reaching people. Like, how do you reach somebody? How do you empower somebody? How do you bring out the best in somebody it's like this with jared goff it seems like what he needed was yes a guy douche douche yeah double black eyes man i'll give them to you don't worry and then just tell them hey you're my guy like you are our guy we were lucky to pick up your 30 million dollar a year contract yeah compared to what other

quarterbacks are getting paid at this point we were lucky to be the ones that were on the receiving end of the Matthew D. Stafford trade that they did in Cabo in a hot tub celebrating life. We're lucky that our quarterback just went and won a Super Bowl because what you're about to do is even better. It's like those types of messages of affirmation and people, you know, it sounds like, oh, you need to be told that. It's like, yeah, sometimes it is nice. Sometimes it is nice to hear that. Yeah, when people attack you and they come at you, like, yeah. It's nice to hear.

Every now and then it's nice to have somebody in your corner. Yeah, and coaches. Like in anything in life that you do, it doesn't matter, whatever business you're in. Yeah, sometimes it's nice to have somebody. Sometimes it's like, boom, boom, boom. You're taking shots and shots and shots. And it's nice to have somebody like, it's going to be okay. No, you got this.

Hey, look, suck it up, buttercup. You got this. Yeah. Dig deep. Huge. Don't worry about that bullshit. And genuine, not fake. And there was a group of misfits, right, that landed.

They all landed there together, and now look at them. Yeah, now they're in the NFC Championship. Detroit fucking lost. And it was a group of misfits, right? They all landed there together, and now look at them. Yeah, now they're in the NFC Championship. Detroit fucking lost. And it was ugly early. That first year, Jared Goff was not good. And they had all these picks. They could have taken a quarterback at any time, year one, year two. I mean, and now that they had this patience, I'm just so glad they actually did that.

So Ben Johnson could become the commander's head coach. Yeah. Could. But also, he might not commander's head coach. Yeah. Could. But also, he might not get a head coaching job this cycle. Yeah. And then they're back again with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. How about it, Fox? Yeah, I never would have expected that at all. Like, one of them's going to be back for sure at this point with only, what,

three head coaching openings left. So that's awesome. I'm pumped for it. The players all love them, so let's just keep it rolling. The head coaching thing is fascinating. Vrabel's still not a job. There's a chance that Belichick and Braves both are not head coaches in the NFL next year. Huge chance. Belichick, Braves, Pete Carroll.

There's a lot of guys getting a lot of praise, but like Brad Holmes and MCDC, that roster, now we've all evaluated it, right, and broke it down. I know Fox, like when you really break it down and look at it, like, that group of receivers and that tight end and those two runners and that quarterback right now and that offensive line. Well, you said best offensive line left is in Detroit. Ragnow, Decker, Pene, Sewell.

Is Ragnow going to make it? Are they just taping him up? Are they doing what they did to Kachuk? Remember for the Florida Panthers last year for, was it the semis? No, it was the Stanley Cup Finals.

It was in the Stanley Cup Finals. They were just basically taping this guy into his, they were just putting pads on him while he's laying down. And then they were just standing him up and then pushing him on the ice yeah like a broken sternum spine fibula yeah shin wrist wrist the whole thing and it was just like kachuk's not missing this game pretty much that's what i'm thinking with debo too like if what they say like nothing's broken or anything like that let's get shot up and let's get out there there is a

video of debo running in the background of a video of george kiddo warming up at practice look at it it's like bigfoot in the background george kiddo's around applause let's go debo looks clean there hey casual looks great yeah it looks great which one is it is it left or right do we know don't tell them don't tell the other team i think his back was i think the whole world knows if they watch the film. Did you ever see when guys, did you ever guys do that? They roll their ankle and they're like, hey, spat both my shoes. So they don't know which one I rolled.

I'm like, I think they can figure it out. If he's carrying the ball on the left, he's trying to figure out right now. Okay, can I run and have ball security? So what was it, guys? Yeah, what was it? I thought it was his right. And I thought that's how the ball's on the left. Was it an AC joint or something?

So what was the injury? That's what I'm saying. If it's an right, and I thought that's how the ball's in the left. Was the AC joint or something? So what was the injury? That's what I'm saying. If it's an AC, like they said it wasn't because he missed time early in the season with a broken shoulder, correct? And I thought I heard there was a report that it's not broken. So if it's an AC, I mean, you can shoot that. Just be painful. You think put a deal on there?

Big brace? I mean, whatever you have to do. Just any restriction like that's radio. It'll limit you, yeah. You put a brace, there. Show the brace. I mean, whatever you have to do. Just any restriction, like a patch radio. It'll limit you, yeah. You put a brace in, it'll limit you. And if it's super painful,

it'll limit him a little bit. But, you know, it's Debo. The dude, he knows. He knows the stage. And Debo's presence on the field is just, you know, like, oh, 19's here. Yeah, but he doesn't...

Are we going to bank on that? And also, Brock Purdy... I think just mentally to everybody. Like, everybody says, okay, remember, no Trent, no Debo, three straight losses. They come back, okay, they run the table. Now there's no Debo. Oh, shit, guys, we're in trouble. That's real.

I think that was why the Packers were so – because they couldn't do any of the, like, hey, line McCaffrey up out where Debo usually would be and then line Debo up in the backfield. Like, they couldn't do any of the like hey line McCaffrey up out where Debo usually would be or and then line Debo up in the backfield like they couldn't do any of that stuff anymore McCaffrey was basically in the backfield the whole game they had one play in the second half where they put Juwan Jennings in uh like you know sidecar next to Purdy and Shotgun and tried to do like a little Debo play and and he got tackled for like a two-yard loss. Like they just – it just wasn't anywhere near as dynamic. And I think it was very – right when he went out, it was like, okay,

Packers can go now. Like they can do something here. Schefter reported that Debo Samuel is limited today at practice due to his shoulder injury. Diggs just looked at the – I'm watching him work on it right now. It's his left. Okay, so he was moving.

I saw the ball moving, right? Carrying it. He looked natural. George Kittle's clapping for him. George is saying, yeah, yeah. Still got three days, too. It'll get better before the game. He's going to play.

Yeah, okay, so Debo's in. That's awesome. And it's a championship game. Yep, we assume Debo's going to be there. First one out of the locker room alongside Trent. That's big news for all parties, including NFL fans. Brian Callahan has come out and said that he'll call plays for the Tennessee Titans as the head coach. Also out of Tennessee, Ran is going to be the vice president GM of football operations.

So Amy is basically turning over football controls to Ran Carthon. Brian Callahan will report to him. I'm excited to see what they do because remember they fire vrabel everybody confused everybody on earth is confused they obviously had a vision going forward a lot of people talk about brian callahan getting hired out of nowhere then immediate follow-up is well his dad who's the best offensive line coach in the national football league alongside first or i guess out there in San Francisco, allegedly, who has to be a great, from what we know, has to be a phenomenal coach.

He's got the juice. And he has proven that he has. He's going down to Tennessee alongside Callahan, who's going to be able to put together a staff who's been in the league a long, long time in the family. I'm excited to see what the Tennessee Titans are. They have not won a headline, really, at all over the last couple weeks. But once again, none of that matters if it all works out. Was there a

prior working relationship between Rand and Callahan? I don't know. Did Rand come from the Rams? No, he's 49ers. And my other question would be, I know they empowered Rand and gave him more

titles or whatever what before that before he got there he was gm only what did they have a president did they have somebody else i think rabes had more say yeah okay brought brinker with mentioned in the thing they brought chad brinker with him brinker he's an ohio guy played running back had big old giant arms playing at ohio university ran all over the place but he was in Green Bay as like scout front office guy for a while. Okay, so Rand's in charge. Amy Strunk is pumped. Yeah. Everybody thought Aaron

Glenn, defense coordinator for Detroit Lions, was going to be the Tennessee Titans head coach. Callahan goes over there, wins the interview, wins the head coaching job, and now, you know, we got D'Amico in his second year in Houston. We're going to have Brian Callahan in his

first year in Tennessee, Shane Steikens in his second year in Indianapolis, and Doug Peterson will be in his third year in Jacksonville in the AFC South, who has more playoff wins this year than the NFC East. That is true. Keep your little...

Everyone's talking about the AFC South, you know, being a shit show or whatever. Watch your mouth. The NFC South. Is there a defensive head coach hired yet? Are they all offenses? No. Mayo, Pierce.

Mayo, Pierce. Okay, so those two, right? They stayed. They didn't have to, like, they were incumbents. So they were a whole part of it, yeah. You guys getting phased out? Is that what you just said? No, I think everybody just sees, again, going all the way back to McVay,

and then everybody was looking for the next McVay, and it's all about the quarterback and who can get the quarterback to play. It's about Callahan going down there and make sure Bryce Young is who they thought he was going to be. That's why I'm pumped is because everyone's doing – the Patriots are just not doing what everyone else is doing. And, like, if you look at the Mayo situation with New England and the Texans situation, like now Mayo gets to pick his guy, and if he sucks, he sucks, and if he doesn't,

then hopefully we end up like the Texans. But to me, that's bullshit. If you're a leader of men and you know how to delegate and you know how to vet and you know how to hire, if you're a defensive guy, an offensive guy, it doesn't matter. Go find really, really good play callers on either side of the ball and let them do their job. And then coach them and do whatever you have to do.

But it's not just because you're – yeah. Finding good coordinators is not easy. So that's why the offensive head coach thing, at least you know that an offensive mind and an offensive mind and offensive strategy is going to be in your building even if they're not calling plays like doug peterson gave up his play calling duties this past year but still doug peterson's offense is probably going to be what they run no matter who comes in if mcdc is able to keep ben johnson and aaron glenn come on

i mean did you ever imagine and mDC hired Anthony Lynn year one And he knew right away That wasn't going to work out And then I think MCDC called plays And eventually let Ben Johnson do it Thank you for the heads up there on Anthony Lynn I called him Dan Lynn earlier I was a brain staley, Dan Lynn

I missed it As it came out of my mouth I was like that is not his name But I was in the middle I really felt good about it. Dan Lynn sounds like a football coach. It's D'Anthony is what we called him. Because he was always dancing in games.

His son's name is D'Antone, though. I was thinking about him as well for the whole process. Because whenever you're a coach, you move a lot. So I thought about D'Antone as I was talking about Anthony Lynn. I think he was at UCLA and USC just went and plucked him. D'Anton? He was at the Ravens and Chip Kelly hired him to run the defense at UCLA. They went from here to top ten.

Anthony Lins, kid? You're talking about this year? Yes. Oh, yeah. And then SC just paid him, I guess, big bucks. Got him out of UCLA to be USC's quarterback. Is it Danton or Danton? That looks like a Danton.

Danton. Do you know him? Yeah. Do you know him personally? Yeah. So you walk up to him and you say, what's up, Danton? Yeah. Okay.

So it's not Danton. Well, Chuck, you can't just shrug it off. I'm trying to figure out what his name is, God damn it. Why you got to hold a gun to my freaking head right now? I'm just trying to get as accurate. His name's Anthony. Yeah, USC went and got him. Fuck.

So just what I was, that's why I peaced. Anthony Lynn. Dan. Dan. Dan. Dan Tone. Yeah, everyone does that. Dan.

That's a great name, by the way. Great name. And he's the same. I mean, I don't know why he's not going by Deuce. Or what is it exactly? Dan Tone. Dan Great name. I mean, I don't know why he's not going by Deuce. What is it exactly? Danton? Danton? Your phone isn't going to know.

You're going to need to call a human. Fake phone call. Siri will be like, ah. He'll call Anthony. Siri's not going to have the answer. All right. Who's hardball bringing in as the OC? Jesse Minter.

What's that? No, he'd be the DC. He's DC. He would be the DC. You said OC. Jesse will go. No, he'd be the D.C. He's D.C. He would be the D.C. You said O.C. Jesse O'Groen. Yeah, O.C. I would imagine Jesse O'Groen.

A lot of people were saying Greg Roan, but that didn't end well with John, so I don't know if Jim's bringing him in. Well, that's just like people were piecing Jim Harbaugh to Chicago because he had history with the Big Ten guys. Now there it's like it wasn't good history. Like they certainly know each other. They've had some shots. We did draft them, though.'ve had some we did draft shots

we did draft them though we had some class shout out to the bears so that might take precedent over the current president i don't know if that's real or not but it feels like with jim because how long he's been around there's an easy tie to a lot of people yeah like oh he's gonna do this because he had this like he was he was a raider he was a charger he was a colt he there's highlights of him basically with every team that's been open in the head coaching role. He's got ties to this. He's got ties to this.

It's like Jim's a lifer. He's going to have ties to fucking everybody. And now that the Chargers have him, good on them, dude. Good on them. Just to wrap up this day of news, congrats to the Chargers, Landon, Jim Harbaugh, and us all seemingly on this date saying, brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

It's going to be fun next year when people are talking about the Chargers being good and we can actually believe it. So when people pick the Chargers to win the Super Bowl these last couple years, it's like, yeah, no, they fucking won't. But now with Harbaugh, it's like, okay, that actually is kind of a fun, trendy pick. We also need to, if they aren't good in year one, let's not try to fire the guy after year one.

I think Harbaugh won't get that. Yeah, I'll be different with him. I hope not. Hey, you know what? Who knows? They've got to show signs of hope. They've got to show some hope, though. You can't just be bad. You've got to show like, okay, we can see where this would be good. What if he's doing a lot of post-game pressures where they're

asking questions about team B and B? He's like, I respect that. Don't matter. I respect that. that yeah we'd like to score more points than the other team but i respect the question miles who's ap gonna get for oc they josh they interviewed uh they interviewed steelers probably uh interim oc mike sullivan i know that for sure i don't know who they're gonna hire but i know they who kellen just interviewed with? Browns? Browns and Eagles he's going to also interview with.

Cliff Kingsbury, hot name right now currently. AQ put him over huge. Huge. AQ's like, that guy's in a building at 3.30 a.m. every single day. That would be a fire job for Vegas. Cliff in Vegas. I don't know if Vegas can handle it. Now, I know Vegas is able to handle all incoming humans,

and they have for years and years. What Cliff Kingsbury is bringing is a whole different animal. You see how cool he looks? He's got to be absolutely strapped, too, with the way those. He knows. Can you see him now with being off and just doing nothing but lifting weights and running? Advising at USC.

He was coaching Chuck. No, he's advising. He was collecting the checks. He was on the sidelines. The analyst job is like. Big one. The greatest? Pretty sweet.

Like, he's getting paid, you know, 50 grand from USC and 500,000 every two weeks from Arizona. Yeah. Pretty fun little gig. Yeah, and you just, yeah. You have an office? He has an office, right? Yeah, you get an office, and you just, yeah. You have an office? He has an office, right? Yeah, you get an office, but you can't coach.

You can't go on a field. Has to happen in meeting room, right? Not even in meeting room? You know, you'll sit with the staff. Whatever projects you're doing for the head coach or whatever. Clyde Christensen was doing this, a friend of ours, with the North Carolina Tar Heels. He's been everywhere in the nfl has coached everybody

in the nfl big time quarterback guru seemingly we'll write a book someday and everybody will want to read it because the guy's a gem an absolute beauty he goes to unc here this past year because that's where he played college a hundred years ago right right weapon right not a lot on the practice field though that. That's interesting. So, like, that was whenever I talked to him, because remember we called the UNC-USC game for game day. Start the year. Saw him at the hotel. He didn't even travel.

I don't even think he was allowed to travel with the team. Like, not even traveling with the team, not allowed to coach on the field, but allowed to be a part of, I think, like, some meetings. It's like the rules are interesting. I know guys that – I've talked to guys down the field that were coaches other places, and they can go to the games and be on the sidelines, but they can't wear a headset.

That's part of the rules. There's only so many. I don't know how it all works. You're right. I don't know. And then Connor Stallions was down there with a hat and sunglasses. Everybody saw it. So I guess anything's possible. Connor Stallions has followed my account on Instagram This is going to be a trap

What do you mean? Did you hear how quickly Chuck It's going to be a trap Oh you're talking about the side? He might be on it That's a Dover route The Chargers That's not a bad idea

How pissed is he that Shlone Moore is getting a head coaching job? He's so mad. I wrote a fucking 500-page manifesto about me being the next head coach. Look what I did. Look what I did. I hope nothing comes back on the school. Like if Sharon does get it. Don't worry, it will.

They come in and whack them. The NCAA gets in there and says, oh, we're going to take this amount of scholarships. I saw Dan Dawkins had that take. Oh, another guy pretty much running from the college rules to go to the NFL. School ended up having to pay for it. The guy goes and has success at the NFL. I didn't see that. It's happening.

No, I mean, he's not the only person. There's a lot of people that are saying that because similar things have happened in the past in football. Similar things have happened in the past in football. Similar things have happened in the past in basketball. It's like, I don't know how you properly regulate it if you're the NCAA here because they haven't made a ruling yet. It's only been the school and the Big Ten Conference. But the NCAA could say,

could say, all right, they punished. They went through it. The person involved in it no longer here. Let's just move on. But that ain't the NCAAs. That ain't the NCAAs, MO. No, no.

Modus operandi for the NCAAs. You remember, we are the final say. That's right. And especially with the national champions, the NCAA will take their chance to. Let's see you do it again with 50 less scholarships. But maybe it's a new day in the NCAA. Maybe it's a new regime, new generation.

Maybe they don't feel the need to peacock who they are and what they are in this modern college. And they don't decide to punish everybody that is not really worthy of being punished going forward. But that is not the NCAA's history at all. No. No. Baker's a mass guy, too. He's going to bring the hammer down for sure on Michigan. A mass guy?

Yeah, he's a Massachusetts guy, president of the NCAA. What's that have to do with Michigan? You guys don't like Michigan? I don't think Charlie Baker does, no. But I do know one thing for sure, that mass guys like to bring the hammer down. And he's going to do that. You do that every day, huh?

You get that hammer down. I never do. I haven't done it in a long time. But at some point. At some point, I'm going to be real pumped to bring the hammer down. You know what? Maybe I've been saving it for the Super Bowl. Oh, the hammer.

Yeah. On who? On who? It depends. There's a plethora of people that the hammer could be useful. Every day, new people are getting added. Yep. Every day, new people are getting added. Every day, new people are getting added.

New people of sports media yesteryear are just getting added every single day. Not by us. We're big fans of you guys. You guys did a great job. Thank you so much. Now, what you did with sports media led to us getting the deal that we got,

so you can either take that as a shot at you, or potentially the future, nonetheless. And we're lucky to be here. Thank you for being here. And we cannot wait to get to the Super Bowl. Speaking of, what two teams are going to be in the Super Bowl? Let's go to the man who is one of the hottest gamblers on planet Earth this

season with a final record on Thursday Night Football against the spread of? 11-5-1, I believe. Is that good? 11-4-1. Excuse me. Is that good? I think so. Chuck, you've had a chance to analyze all four teams.

Both games are going to be fantastic. I think we all agree with that. Great matchups. The NFL got it right. These are the four teams that should be here. Hell yeah. How do you see them going? Which one do you want to start with?

Let's start in the NFC. Okay. We're in Santa Clara. Detroit Lions versus San Francisco 49ers. Number one seed, San Francisco at home, favored by seven against Jared Goff at MCDC. Yeah, so I love everything about this Lions team. I think this line, what is this?

Here we go. Seven. The line is seven. Seven, I heard seven and a half. Yeah, but he's been better right now. I think seven. Seven and a half, right? They come in playing really good ball.

I think Aaron Glenn has done a – AQ did some of his stuff from a defensive standpoint. Like if they can defensively take care of CMC, right? Let's say Debo is a question mark or he's not 100% and he's not going to be full tilt, you know, because he's, you know, we know what kind of weapon he is. But they're going to do everything. Aaron's not going to let you run the ball.

They finished the league. We put some numbers together this morning. They were two or three in the league stopping the run. They haven't allowed people to run the ball through the playoffs to this point. They haven't had a 70-yard rusher all season, to your point. Thank you. Haven't allowed a? Yeah.

Jesus. It was that yesterday. So I just think that Green Bay ran the ball more than effectively on this 49er team. Okay. Aaron Jones popped off a 50-some yarder in the fourth quarter. So, yeah. And that play, did we show that play? Aaron Jones popped off a 57-yarder in the fourth quarter. Yeah, and that play, did we show that play?

Did AQ put that play on tape? No, AQ, there was a couple plays. You run that tape back, it was egregious. The technique and the effort was like, okay, Lord have mercy. So anyway, with Dan Montgomery and Jameer Gibbs and that offensive line, they're going to be able to run the ball. They're going to be able to control the clock. The play-action pass is going to be wide open. There's one corner for San Francisco, Ambry Thomas, number 20.

You're going to stay away from number seven. We talked about it a week ago about number 20, right, and saw what Green Bay did and what their plan was. They recognize the same thing. So they're going to go after him. They're going to have success on the ground running the football. I don't think with this offensive line from Detroit, and they got studs everywhere on San Francisco's defense,

front to back, all pro players, whatever, but they're going to have to blitz to put pressure on Goff because they're not going to do it with four because they're going to have to blitz to put pressure on Goff because they're not going to do it with four because they're going to take care of Bosa. They're going to make sure. Chase has been a great addition. Two and a half sacks is all he's got. So he's not going to win the one-on-ones.

Taylor Decker is going to take care of him, and they're going to chip and do whatever they have to. The play-action pass, because you're effective in the run game, the play-action pass, you get six, seven, sometimes eight-man protection and doubles on everybody, and he has so much time back there. And those deep daggers. And Laporta. And Laporta.

Amon St. Brown is an absolute stud. I mean, in a critical moment, that guy's getting you a first down. And we talked about how they catch the ball and run the frick up the field. That's not what we said. What we said was frick the fuck up. St. Brown, Williamson, Reynolds, their wide receiver group is just as good as the other one. And if you don't have Deebo on the other side,

so I see them being able to move the ball defensively. If Aaron can keep the ball in front of them, they don't give up explosives. And then they come after. He's going to come after. He's going to come after Purdy, and he's going to force him into some bad plays. So I like the Lions going out there and not only covering, but a chance to win this game. Come on, Coach!

Let's go! Once again, we've got to say 11-4-1 against the spread, that man who just made that prediction. And each week, whenever he does this layout, a lot of the things that are said, you know, when we're watching these Thursday night games are starting to unfold in front of our eyes. It's been quite a treat, actually,

to watch your brain work as a man who coached for 36 years around football, 18 in college, 18 in the NFL. So you've got the Lions' potential outright, but definitely covering the plus seven. Sound like you're like, I'll take the seven and a half, too, if that's available. Yeah, love to. Buy the half. You can buy the half, too.

Take the hook, you say. All right, let's go to the AFC. Foxy, that's got to feel really good. Yeah, no, that's awesome. Coach sent me a little bit of tape earlier in the week basically saying, hey, these 49ers might not want to tackle. And then we're talking about our offensive line. I think the Lions O-line has heard so much about the 49ers O-line

and how good they are. So I think they're going to come out ready to roll. So, Coach, let's go. All right. All right. So he came in wearing the – Yeah, now it makes sense. He's got the Lions blue on.

That's why he did it. Yeah. Should have known that. Bingo. Cactus Pete's the only thing he got that's blue. Yep. Yeah. Got that one because you hit a progressive.

Yeah. Bought 800 Depends at the store downstairs. Jesus. You get a free quarter's worth. Did you get a progressive jackpot at Cactus Pete's? You got a hot machine. You can't get up and go to the bathroom and just pee your pants. Bingo.

Of course. I mean, that's gumball. Especially beats they understand it they actually got a uh they got the pens built into their seats that's right at the slot machine right into a pipe you can just poop right and pee right here whatever you need to do cactus beats catheters walk in there won't want to go and cactus beats looks like a place that you need to stop spending your time at it looks so beautiful chuck i think it's amazing he needs to spend more time yeah sleep there bud is there like a is there a nightclub in there you can go out there and dance is that place right have you ever won coming out of there oh yeah a lot of winners coming out of cactus speeds absolutely

that's why it looks like that maybe how'd you get the cues they give you the q zip in your room the one zip quarters The quarter zip. Oh, geez. AJ, that was so cool. That was really cool. That was so cool. I've got to get up with the lingo. No, I've never heard that before.

I've never heard that before. I don't know, T-Pain. I mean, I've got to get with it. I mean, you were singing earlier, though, Chuck. That was awesome. I was watching. Yeah, the internet loved it, obviously, Chuck. Everything you do is, you know, turning to gold these days. Especially with your picks.

You just picked the Lions. That's a beautiful thing. So, Cactus Pete, a lot of winners coming out of there? I like that. All right. I like that. I guess, you know, you think about the Rivers in Pittsburgh Casino. Like, they're never having an issue lighting a sign there.

Never. They're never having an issue getting a new chandelier in there. They're adding more restaurants and more buffets every single day. They got T-Pain performing there on just like a Tuesday. It's like, where's all this fucking money coming from? And then you see everybody walking out. They're all miserable. It's like, they're in a single smile walking out of this casino.

You're saying Cactus Pete's. Smile factory. Cactus Pete's. It's the wildebeest walking out of there. Everybody. You just go to Pittsburgh. You go to that casino. You donate whatever is properly proportioned for what you're going to spend the weekend.

You tip the corner. You say thank you. Here's $500. Here's $100. Here's $50. Don't get me killed in Pittsburgh this weekend. They say, you got it. Losers!

And take the money in there. That's how it works. Sorry about it. Cactus Pete's isn't like that. No. Different. Let's make our way to Cactus Pete's. Okay. Let's hope to take the lights out of all the fucking

side. Thank you, Cactus Pete's. Love you, Cactus Pete's. Alright, let's go to the AFC side now. Chuck, obviously you know a lot about the Baltimore Ravens and the city of Baltimore. Patrick Mahomes in the middle of a dynasty run alongside Travis Kelsey, Andy Reid, and the entire

Chiefs kingdom that has grown this year tenfold with the additive of Taylor Swift in the Swifties. I love it. I think it's great for the sport. I think the energy is at an all-time high right now. I think the Chiefs are playing their best ball that they've played all year. I think they're figuring out how to win with this particular team, which is a good sign of a team being able to adapt and evolve

and great players and great coaching. And then on the other side, just dominant. This Baltimore Ravens team has just been dominant. Now, no team was undefeated this year. So nobody's going to have, you know, they lost their Colts. Yeah. The Colts are a wagon. That's just how it's going to go.

They lost to Pittsburgh. Twice. Twice. But since the games have mattered and they've been trying to play, they just dominate people, this team. That is how it is. That is what the Ravens have been this year. New OC, new feel, new vibe.

How do you think this one goes, Chuck? Yeah, number one in sacks this year. Number one scoring defense, 16.3 points a game, whatever it was. Kansas City, what they did against Buffalo, and that was a depleted Buffalo defense. They looked a lot better. You got Andy Reid, you got Pat Mahomes, six straight AFC championship games. I mean, it's unheard of.

It's ludicrous to think that somebody could do that in today's football. Kelsey, yeah, I mean, everybody's's how can you bet against that well to your point all the things that you just talked about this this offense with Lamar Jackson Zay Flowers OBJ you're probably going to get Mark Andrews back for this one but Isaiah likely what he's come in and done for this offense he just throw the ball up he said yep okay yep and it doesn't matter he's come in and done for this offense, he's just throw the ball up. He said, yep, okay. And it doesn't matter. He's covered, but he's not. So just put it somewhere in the area code,

and he's going to come down with it. The run game, the offensive line, and then this defense with Roquan and Pat Queen and Van Hoy and Clowney and Metabuke and Big Baby, you know, Williams inside. I mean, Kyle Hamilton, he's as good as there is. Hold on, I got a stat. Safety, nickel.

Geno Stone. I got Geno Stone, 6'7", interception. Marlon Humphrey will come back. Brandon Stevens on the other side. Darby came in and balled out. Kyle Hamilton stat. I got one. Where the hell is it?

He sends me so many stats. Kyle Hamilton's number one in the league in coverage by like four or five different stats. Like yards per attempt, completion percentage. He's like the number one guy in coverage in the NFL. He's played as good or better, to your point, at safety. We talked about him, remember, during the year leading up to one of their games on Thursday

night about him being able to play the nickel, play slot corner. Kyle Hamilton has allowed 261 yards on 62 targets this season, making him the number one pass defender in the NFL by that measure, 4.2 yards per target. Between him and those linebackers, they're about as well prepared

to match up with Kelsey than anyone. And I see they'll be able to do that, but I think, and they're going to hit, Pacheco's a hard, I mean, that guy's a stud. You've got to love the way he plays the game. But these two linebackers in this defensive unit,

yeah, it's Bullies of Baltimore, that documentary, you guys all watch that, right? Oh, yeah. These guys are built the same freaking way and play the exact same way. And like Kyle and Kelsey, that's going to be a great matchup. He's going to be on him a bunch in certain situations because he'll play the nickel spot on early downs, first and second down situations.

And then when they go to real, you know, obvious pass situation, nickel, Kyle will be at safety. He'll be on Kelsey. That'll be a great one. He's long. He's athletic. He can run. He can mirror.

He can do all that stuff. That'll be a hard one for Kelsey to get loose on. And Millette comes in and plays the slot corner. So I like the... It's obvious, right? Yeah, you like the pitch. Alright, so you're on Ravens and Lions. Ravens and Lions this championship weekend.

I think we should all understand that Chuck has been swinging a very hot bat when he's picking games. AJ, we don't have to make our official picks until tomorrow, but what you're hearing from Chuck, is that swaying you at all, or are you open-minded? How'd you come into the day? I try to come into this open-minded, but I definitely am always leaning a certain way,

but Chuck makes me rethink it. It's tough to go against Chuck when he really lays it all out for you. It's tough to pick against him, I think. I agree. And Chuck, I think the only way we end this beautiful day is by you winning some money for some money. Here you go, Chuck. Okay?

We had a big-time winner yesterday in first shot. Unbelievable. First shot. I saw it. I watched it. Just drains it. No pressure. I didn't know it.

Bank shot. 15 people won $500. You guys knew it as soon as he left his hand, right? I actually said, holy shit. You were positive yesterday. You were like, that's going in. No, I didn't even look because I figured, all right, we've got eight of these things coming. Your hair looks so good.

What are you using for product? You know what, Chuck? Thank you. I won't shit on you while you do this. I'm serious. You've changed the way you go about taking care of your hair. I've added a couple products. I've been trying to figure it out.

And I think we might have landed on a couple that have stuck. I saw a photo of you from college where you had long hair man you got some good locks bud thank you i appreciate that that's to my mother and my and my pop pop shout out philly and philly yep cactus peets a place in reno nevada jackpot ne, Nevada. What's that? Where is that? Jackpot. You go two hours south on I-84 from Boise to Twin Falls,

and then you head south on Highway 93 for 43 miles. I know what you're talking about. As soon as you cross the Idaho-Nevada border, you hit that. Sweet. Sounds good. Got it. Did you see Blue Oyster Cult when they were at Cactus Peaks? Wait, BOC was there?

Yeah. Damn. Do you sleep in there? There's places to sleep in there? Pick a corner. Man. These are the granite suites over here. Granite.

Tower. Okay. That's not a tower. Put me under the cap sign. That's what I want to be under. C-A-P-E. My bachelor party back in 1989 was at that casino. What?

Yes. We went down in my late father-in-law. Rest in peace. Rest in peace, Ron Hefner. Freaking unbelievable human being. Penis popped. He had a motor home. We started at the LeBois.

It's a horse track in Boise, right? Then you went two hours south. We hired Louie Ray. He was a D-tackle for us at Boise State. We hired him to drive us down and back and babysit us, so to speak, make sure we get down and back. And we were loaded in this in this uh motor home and it went down there and yeah lost a couple bucks and may have got kicked out of cactus peats and yeah but you're back you got history this place i ran across the street to try to get in the other one they had phoned

and said hey such and such is on his way by the I got to the— Chuck's a menace down there in Jackpot, Nevada. They were standing at the— Sir, you're not coming to do your drunk shenanigans over here. We heard about what you did over at Cactus Pete's. How many people are we winning for here, Chuck? How many people? 25? Jeez.

15, Chuck. Jackpot, 25 25 people $500 if Chuck Pagano Cactus Pete legend can put that football into that hoop right over yonder for the people Chuck 25 too far too jacked up thinking about that bachelor party Cactus Pete's got you all

hoored up whoa whoa whoa gotta shut up old man you said you weren't gonna I know I just thought of that when I said that I got to keep going. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You got to shut up, old man. You said you weren't going to. I know. I just thought of that when I said that. Oh, man. What do you think went wrong there?

You think you were too excited about Cactus Pete's old sea peace? Yeah. I'm juiced up right now. All zeeked up? Throw it from back there. Cactus Zeeks. Yeah, maybe drop it back a little bit. 25 people.

$500. Oh, my God. Good throw. Good idea there. Wow. You know, I saw Pete Rose gave batting instructions to somebody. Okay. And he said, if I was too fast on the ball, I would just move up in the batter's box.

If I was too slow on the ball, I would move back in the batter's box. If I was too slow on the ball, I would move back in the batter's box. If I was getting jammed, I would move away from the plate. And if I wasn't close, I'd move closer to the plate. How'd you become the greatest hitter? That's it. That's it. You just backing up

right there, putting yourself into the perfect spot. That was a full dude perfect Pete Rose type situation. That is professional. That is a sign that this next ball is certainly followed. And, A.J., you had something to say to Chuck that was super motivating. I remember you read it last night. You texted me about it.

I don't know about that, but Chuck does look great in that quarter zip. Cactus Pete, I wonder how much money he's getting or how many free chips he's getting next time he goes back. Yeah, you think you're hustling right now, the whole show and operation. You should be. You should be. The Q-zip does look fantastic. Will the throw look better than the last two?

25 people, $500. Back up into the pocket. Oh, wow. That was a bad bounce. I thought that was in. I know. I thought that was in. You hit your spot.

Sometimes that's going to happen. That came off bad. Yeah, your rotation. You're throwing a tighter spiral today. Yeah, it looked like it hit the tip and then instead of going in, it just ricocheted right off. Did you warm up today? Yeah. Get a glove. Put a glove on that right hand. Him and Dirty were running routes

for 25 minutes. We don't need to do the Brock Purdy glove, no glove thing, but I do appreciate Dirty out here running routes. Is Dirty running routes and Chuck's hitting them? Chuck's hitting them right in the numbers. That's awesome. Yeah, you got a good bunching here.

Pretty consistent throwing. Illuminati. Well, JJ Watt could accuse that. 25 people, 500. Yes. Oh, a little high. A little high. The way the thing was spinning, I thought there was a chance. What are you going with?

Be careful with that step. National championship ball. 2023, we almost got it. Spin this thing. We literally got a cost coming out of this thing. Oh, yeah. I'm making one? Yeah, but that all changes right now.

25 people, $500. Chuck Puck gun. Worst throw of the year. That one left the gym. He went for it. He went for it. In the gym. Coach, you're making me nervous by your Lions pick.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. His picks and throws do not correlate. We know that. It's not 11-4-1. Well, you know, if the universe is potentially – Ty wanted to tell you something. Coach Sirianni had something to say. Coach, stop dicking around and spin that fucking duke and put it in the hole, okay?

You're fucking. You're sliding back. You're moving up. Find a spot that you feel comfortable in and put that son of a bitch home. Believe in you. Sometimes it's all you need. Yeah! Let's go!

Yeah! Woo! Yeah! And people are questioning that guy. I! Let's go! Yeah! Woo! Yeah! And people are questioning that guy if he can coach. Yeah, right. Oh. Give me another one. Yeah!

Good job, Chuck. Yeah. So what's your job going to be? I'm a fucking head football coach, okay? Suck my dick. That's exactly what I would have said. Who's got it better than us? Nobody.

25 winners and $500. Great throw, Chuck. AJ, great work today. Boys in the back, fantastic. Chuck, we love you, man. Boys, I'll see you tomorrow for Feel Good Friday. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice.

It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Remember that. Goodbye.